The Complex Lives of Cheerleaders and Quarterbacks
by CiliaReturning
Summary: This a sweet little Buffy/Willow fluff set in an AU second season. With an almost complete lack of vampires, it's a spin on the classic football romance. Now in a new and edited 4 episode format! Orginally posted elsewhere in 2004.
1. The Cheerleader and The Quarterback

_Author's note: Wrote this story a long time ago and didn't want it lost to the ages so I'm uploading it. It's a bit of pure B/W fluff and it shows, but I've always had a soft spot for it._

_Second note: Since this was written as pure fluff orginally so there are some in-jokes aimed at my old editor and proof-reader which after much thought I decided to just leave in there, also there are small cameos from other shows and movies in here too, see if you can spot them all._

_A few readers have requested I break this story up into more manageable parts, so I've done that here._

_So that's it for the notes. Enjoy!_

**The Complex Lives of Cheerleaders and Quarterbacks**

**Cilia**

**Prologue: The Cheerleader and The Quarterback**

'"It'll be fun," they said. "It couldn't hurt," they said. "It'll look good on your college application," they said. But they never said it would be this short,' Willow Rosenberg thought as she studied herself in her full length mirror. 'No way in hell I'm going out in public wearing this skimpy thing.' Still, Sunnydale High's resident brainiac—and proud, card-carrying member of the Scooby Gang—was now, officially, a cheerleader.

She was struck by an amusing thought so she reached for her pom-poms. Watching herself in the mirror, she started to do a little routine. "Razorbacks! Razorbacks! Go, go, go! May we be fast and they be slow!" she sang and jumped up and down before breaking down in a fit of giggles.

Willow did look good in the outfit though; with her pale but shapely legs—honed from much running from baddies or chasing Buffy—going up forever before reaching the short yellow skirt. Her exposed midriff was nothing to be ashamed of either and her long red hair, once braided and done up, was a marvel to behold. Willow the Cheerleader was, in all honesty, extremely easy on the eyes.

Meanwhile, there was much pondering going on with the coaches of the Sunnydale High Razorbacks. There was a lack of suitable quarterback candidates for the team. Given they had receivers that could outrun any in the county—with strong legs being an absolute must in Sunnydale if you wanted to live to see graduation—a strong defensive line, and the hottest cheerleaders in the state. But there was not one student in the school who could throw the pigskin around. An errant ball hit the head coach.

"Sorry," the would-be jock shouted his apology.

But the infinite patience of the warm hearted, and all around nice guy, Coach Jared Jameson ensured that the Sunnydale Razorbacks were a team like no other.

"For the love of—" Coach Jameson exclaimed as he kicked the ball and sent it flying. He was a tall man in his late forties, with graying hair and sharp features. As it turns out, he had been quite the kicker in his day and still had some juice left in his long legs. The ball sailed off and was lost beyond the end zone. Usually the most stoic of men, the lack of a team leader was getting to the renowned, saint-like coach.

"Guess we can write the try-outs off the list?" Assistant Coach Julia Landis asked. A dark haired woman in her late thirties, she was the result of a mistake in hiring that had turned into a PR coup for the school.

"God?" Coach Jameson asked and raised his hands to the skies. "Give me just this one break and I will not ask for anything else ever again."

Coach Landis sighed at the antics of the head-coach.

The lost football then came flying back in a graceful arc and landed in the waiting hands of Coach Jameson. A pair of heads turned and four eyes landed on and then squinted at what looked like a petite, blond junior who waved at them from the other end of the football field.

"Nice kick," she called out to them with a smile before being charged upon by two very happy football coaches. They had The Sunnydale Razorbacks' new quarterback: Buffy Anne Summers.

**Chapter One: Come again?**

Buffy wondered, 'How'd I get myself into this mess?' as she put on her pads. She took a moment to just look at the yellow and red jersey with the number nine and 'Summers' spelled on the back. Shaking her head with a soft laugh, she slipped it on as she wondered how her friends would take this newest weirdness.

There were no rules against girls playing high school football—this being California, the state of free range liberals. She dressed in a separate dressing room from the all boy team, the cheerleaders' locker room to be exact. The only reason she didn't change with the rest of the team was that she didn't want to give them a free show. Anyways, it wasn't like she'd be tempted to even look at them—not anymore at least. But for now, it was her little secret that nobody—not even Willow—knew about. In other words, she wasn't quite ready to go public with her Sapphic longings just yet.

Tucking her helmet under her arm she jogged out of the locker room and onto the practice field. There her eyes met sparkling green ones and a silence fell over the green grass of the football field.

The rest of the world noticed her while she only noticed Willow.

Willow, who had been so transfixed on Buffy in all her football-goddess glory, hid her face behind her pom-poms.

Although Buffy didn't stand more than five foot two, she made a striking figure in her pads and tight pants. Her blond hair was tightly pulled up in a French bun and she looked extremely warrior-like with the black marks under her eyes. One could almost say that she looked lethal and sexy at the same time. Of course, those two often go together and her effect on the players and cheerleaders was immediate.

"No way!" Cordelia Chase, head-cheerleader as per the universal order, shouted as she saw the new quarterback the coach had been talking about.

"Buffy," Coach Jameson said as he walked over carrying a clipboard and the smile of a man at peace with the universe.

"Coach," she said as she stood up straight and gave the cordial man a puzzled look. The rest of the faculty at the school always called her 'Summers', but Coach Jameson seemed different, more relaxed even.

"Ready to throw some footballs?" he asked and tucked the clipboard under his arm.

"Just point me in the right direction," she replied with a lopsided grin. She walked past the gaping cheerleaders that had been practicing on the sidelines, but not without waving to Willow who just smiled her big smile and waved her pom-pom back.

"This is so wrong!" one cheerleader, Jennifer a rather bitchy senior, protested as she pouted and huffed in complete disgust.

"The rules do state that she can play," Willow said in defense of her friend.

"I think it's cool a girl is playing," Litni Speed, a blond junior cheerleader, said as the group watched Buffy warming up her throwing arm.

"What about you, Cordy?" Willow asked, turning her best resolve face to the still flabbergasted head cheerleader.

"Her name has a double consonant, we have to do something about that. Otherwise, hell, if she wins us games, it's cool," she exclaimed cheerfully. She winked at Willow and the happy hacker breathed a sigh of relief. Cordelia being down with it meant the discussion was over. In the eyes of the squad at least.

Buffy could sense the strange mix of doubt, interest, and male hormones when the coach introduced her to her teammates. Her guards were two tall and massively wide seniors that looked like they ate a cow each for breakfast. After they milked it. Twins by the looks of them, both had blond surfer hair and blue eyes that shone with honesty.

"These are Jon and Tuck, the Smith brothers. Or as some announcers call them, The Twin Engines of Destruction," Coach Jameson introduced the pair with a small smile. "They're going to make sure that nobody gets near you."

'Again with the first names. What is with that?' Buffy thought as she looked at her teammates.

"Hi," Buffy said and stuck out her hand.

The twin on the left shook her hand and softly said, "Jon." Then the other copied with, "Tuck." The two said nothing else, just smiled politely.

"Strong silent types?" she asked and both boys smiled a small smile.

'No need to tell Coach that I could floor them in a second, though,' Buffy thought ruefully to herself, remembering not to be too firm when she shook their hands.

Then Coach Jameson introduced two lean looking boys, the oddest wide receiver pair she'd ever seen. Both looked like they could go from zero to fifty in under a millisecond.

"This is Harry Kim," he said as he introduced an Asian youth.

Harry stuck out his hand "Welcome aboard, Cap," he said in a cheerful voice.

Buffy couldn't help but to smile at the cheerful boy as she took his hand. "Happy to be here, Harry," she replied.

'I know that face from somewhere,' she thought as she studied him a bit closely, but just couldn't place him.

"And this is William Godspeed, or Wild Bill as we call him," the coach said, introducing a young black man who, likewise, very politely offered Buffy his hand.

"A pleasure, ma'am," he said in a cultured voice that spoke of boarding school abroad at some point in his life. "Coach tells us that you can throw the pigskin?" he asked.

"That's what he thinks," Buffy said with a shy smile.

'He sounds like Giles, all cultured and stuff,' she thought to herself with a silent giggle.

"Let's try it then, shall we?" he asked and flipped a ball to her.

Buffy looked down at the ball and then back up at the receiver. "Okay," she said with a grin as Couch Jameson started to clear the field.

"Go!" Buffy shouted after the field cleared.

Wild Bill was off like a rocket. When he was far enough away Buffy drew back her arm and let the ball fly. Wild Bill never knew what hit him as he caught the ball and was knocked back flat on his back.

"Wow!" Coach Jameson exclaimed.

Coach Landis was kind enough to close his gapping mouth.

From the sidelines, the chanting of, "Gimme a B!" was heard from the now mostly convinced cheerleaders.

But there was a lingering doubt about the new social order of things. How could a cheerleader date the quarterback when said quarterback was also a girl? Despite this everybody agreed that interesting times were ahead at Sunnydale High. For the first time there was hope for a Razorback victory.

* * *

><p>Buffy walked out of the locker room with a sly grin on her face, 'Quarterback for the football team. Figures that even my normal life should be a bit abnormal.' Then she thought about Willow in her cheerleader uniform and her grin grew into smile that was quickly followed by a blush.<p>

'Well, I am the quarterback,' she thought to herself with a laugh as she opened her locker. She started gathering her books together while humming the chants she'd heard the cheerleaders practice.

"Hi!" a perky voice said behind her causing her to jump slightly. She turned around to face a grinning Willow. She was dressed in her normal clothes—clothes that somehow seemed even more alluring than ever before because Buffy had now seen hints of the body beneath.

"Willow," she said with a mock scowl. "Never sneak up on a..."

"Quarterback?" Willow asked with an impish smile.

"That too," Buffy answered as the scowl eased into a gentle smile.

"We're on for coffee and history later right?" Willow asked as she studied her friend. She noticed some new things; a small smudge of dirt on her cheek and the rumpled hair in a loose braid. Licking her fingers she reached out and took care of the smudge.

"I..." Buffy stammered as she felt Willow's finger on her cheek. "Yeah, we're on," she finally managed to answer as Willow finished cleaning her face.

"Great," Willow exclaimed, then gave Buffy a strange look followed by a mysterious smile before turning away and heading for class. She headed for class leaving a pleasantly surprised quarterback/slayer behind her.

'I think I like cheerleaders' Buffy thought with a smile as she closed her locker and headed for class.

While heading out for her study-date with Willow, Buffy was intercepted by a hyped up Xander—best male friend and jokester supreme—with a grinning Cordelia trailing behind him.

"Tell me it isn't true?" Xander asked. "Have you any idea what this does to the shreds of masculinity I have left? Best friend cheerleader! Other best friend quarterback! Me, team mascot?" he asked rapidly before Buffy even got a chance to answer.

"You're the team mascot?" Buffy asked after a moment of stunned silent and that sent Cordelia into a fit of giggles.

Xander threw up his hands and asked God, who was getting tired of all these questions, what he'd done to deserve this cruel joke of a life.

"Xander, relax. Your masculinity is still in working order," Buffy said as she stopped her friend from going down on his knees and praying in the corridor. "Just ask Cordy," she said with a smirk which caused the head cheerleader to blush. "See?" she said as she pointed at Cordelia. Then she executed a strategic retreat.

Walking down the sunlit street towards the coffee shop where Willow waited, Buffy thought about possibilities. The effects of her decisions to help the team and how cute Willow looked in the cheerleader outfit—an image that was stuck in her mind. It would be promptly transferred to the fantasy memory of her mind at the first opportunity and be marked for later use that day.

When she reached the shop, she stopped and watched Willow through the window. Her friend was sipping a cup of cappuccino: decaf, with extra foam and four sugars. The shop was a nice little place facing the street, with flowers growing in boxes under the windows. She smiled to herself and steeled herself so she wouldn't do anything stupid—like throwing Willow over her shoulder and running off with her. She also tried not to think about how 'date-like' this whole situation was. She entered the shop and pulled her history book from her pack. She graced her cheerleader with a loving smile. When the happy hacker looked up, Buffy felt like she was staring into the sun and got dizzy. She slipped into the seat next to Willow and smiled. 'My cheerleader? What the hell is happening to me?' she thought to herself.

Yep, strange times were ahead at Sunnydale High.

**Chapter Two: The Complexity of Life Increases**

The sun was slowly setting over the Razorbacks' field, casting long shadows from the end posts onto the green turf and the stands. At the end zone, with her back against the sun, stood Buffy Summers: Quarterback and newly crowned football-princess of Sunnydale High.

Buffy was truly impressive to behold, standing there with her blond locks loose and almost merging with the yellow of her team jacket. She was like a taut string as she readied herself for the throw. The ball left her hand at great speed and thundered straight into the small net set up at the end of the field. Five throws and counting, each one dead on.

Yes, the newest member of the Razorbacks had both: Stunning good looks and a canon for an arm.

She picked up one of the last of the balls from the bag with the playbook lying open next to it. Coach Jameson, a true saint of a man, had spent the entire day explaining to her the various plays that the Razorbacks' used. To her credit she had paid attention and hadn't made too many silly comments. Silly comments being along the lines of; "A shotgun? Cool!"

It was the general consensus, among almost everybody that had ever met Coach Jameson, that he really was way too nice to be a football coach.

Buffy readied her arm and let fly, only to have the ball caught by Giles as he strolled onto the field.

'Wow, Tweed-man can catch! Uh-oh, he's got that speech look!' Buffy thought. She watched her watcher as he strolled over the field, examining the ball closely over the rim of his glasses.

"What a cricket bowler you would have made," was the first thing he said as he tossed the ball back to her.

"Yeah, guess slayer strength has its benefits," Buffy said as she pulled back her arm. "And why would I bowl crickets, anyways?" she asked deadpan. She let the ball fly again, this one missing its mark by a mile and literally burrowing into the turf on impact.

"You do realize that I strongly object to this," Giles stated in matter of fact tone. He studied his slayer standing there in the yellow and red jacket of the Sunnydale High Razorbacks and he felt strangely proud, far more proud than when she'd tried to join the cheerleaders. For despite his strong objections, this was more appropriate for a slayer than prancing around in a short skirt.

"I know Giles, but this feels so...so...normal," she said as picked up another ball. She let it rip and hit the target dead center. "In a strange way, though," she added.

"You could seriously injure someone," Giles said as he looked down at his slayer and gave her the 'responsibility' look.

"I know. But it's more likely that I'll be taking hits than dealing them out, you know. So better me than some poor jock," Buffy stated as she looked around for more balls to throw at her target.

"I've been reading up on this...sport," Giles said with a grimace and Buffy let out a giggle. "Yes, I know, very amusing. Let's tease the Englishman on American football," Giles said with a sound of mock insult in his voice. He then added with pride, "You were the talk of the faculty lounge today, by the way."

Buffy looked up at her watcher with wide eyes. "So you're okay with me doing all this?" she asked while waving her hand across the field of green turf and white lines.

"You deserve a normal life, Buffy," Giles stated softly. He placed his hands on his Slayer's shoulders and said, "So, while I may not approve of this barbaric exercise in normality, I will not stand in your way. Just don't forget your other duties," he reminded her firmly. He brushed a stray piece of grass from Buffy's shoulder before lowering his hands.

Buffy gave a firm nod and then drew a stake from the pocket of her team jacket. "As a matter of fact, I was just getting to that," she said with a big smile.

"That's a good girl," Giles commented in an oh-so dignified and responsible manner. He took off his glasses, giving them a good polish in his manly, emotionally repressed way.

"But I do expect you, as a respected member of the Sunnydale High faculty, to be in the crowd on game night, tomorrow," she added with an impish grin.

Giles' face fell and he nearly dropped his now shining glasses as she patted his shoulder.

She left and went about to retrieve the balls. She struggled a bit to pull out the one that was imbedded in the ground, then sheepishly tried to cover the mini-crater up with her foot.

Her watcher to gave a long sigh and turned his eyes skyward. The Powers That Be got yet another question along the lines of 'why me' directed at them because of the slayer that day.

* * *

><p>She spent a rather boring night of slaying with her mind firmly fixed on the plays Coach Jameson had been drilling into her that day. She walked as if on autopilot, or maybe guided by some instinct, towards Willow's house. Finding herself standing underneath Willow's window, her senses returned to her and she looked up. She heard the sounds of a routine being practiced in the upstairs bedroom. It was the same one she'd heard on the field that morning; the one about her.<p>

"Give me a B!" Willow's voice drifted down towards to the grinning slayer turned quarterback. She pictured her Willow in that outfit practicing in front of the mirror.

'Whoa, my Willow!' Buffy caught herself thinking. She smiled again as she tried it out again this time out loud: "My Willow," she whispered and grinned a bit, then panicked as a red haired head popped out the window.

"Buffy?" Willow asked as she looked down and saw nothing. She shook her head at her own silliness, 'Why would Buffy be standing underneath my window, anyways.'

Willow leaned further out her window, 'Just to make sure there's no slayer lurking below waiting to climb up and...' Willow's thoughts trailed off into a very naughty place while she blushed.

Buffy peeked around the tree she'd hidden herself behind in a burst of slayer speed. Looking up at Willow in her cheerleading outfit with her hair hanging down, she had a wicked idea. She crouched down, waiting for just the right moment to pounce.

Willow kept scanning the yard below her, with a faint blush still in her cheeks, when she heard the rustle of leaves. With a loud thud, something landed on her roof. Looking up, she let out an, "Eep!" as Buffy swung down and came face to upside down face with her.

"Hi, Wills," Buffy said as she swayed back and forth in front of Willow while humming the theme from the Spider-Man cartoon.

The cheerleader leaned back a bit to just stare at her friend. "Err...Buffy...what..." Willow managed to get out before she started laughing. Buffy just looked so ridiculous, hanging upside down from the edge of the roof, and dangling outside her bedroom window.

"Hope you don't mind me swinging by?" Buffy joked as she swayed back and forth. Then she smoothly swung herself into Willow's room where she found herself standing almost nose to nose with Willow in all her cheerleading glory.

"No...no..." Willow managed to get out as she stared at Buffy. Again, she found the strange urge to clean off a speck of dirt; this time on the slayer's forehead. She licked her finger and rubbed it away.

"Thanks," Buffy said with a smile as she rubbed the spot where Willow had touched her.

"So what brings you by?" Willow asked as she stepped back from Buffy. She held her pom-poms in front of her as she sat down on the bed.

"Just making sure that you weren't...you know...getting power-freaked. First game of the season tomorrow and all," Buffy said as she leaned back against the windowsill.

"No, I mean yes, I mean—" Willow blurted and then hid her face in her pom-poms. "I keep thinking why I am doing this?" she admitted as Buffy approached her.

The bed moved as Buffy sat down on it and placed her arm around Willow's shoulders. "'Cause you're good at it, and some part of you must want this," Buffy said in an earnest voice.

Willow looked up from her pom-poms and smiled.

"Plus, you're cute in that outfit," Buffy added with a sly smile.

Willow tugged at the hem of her short skirt. "First I wanted to do this to show everybody that—that I wasn't just a nerd, but now..."

"But now?" Buffy asked. She looked firmly at Willow's face with her most caring look.

"But now...I kinda do it to be there for you," Willow answered in a low voice as she blushed a bit.

Buffy couldn't help to smile at how good her Willow was to her.

"I heard," Buffy answered as she cast her eyes to the window. "When I was standing outside," she explained. "So this isn't just about the college application thingy?"

Willow gave a guilty little smile. "Maybe a bit, but I'm there, one hundred percent behind my quarterback," she answered honestly with a firm nod of her head.

"Well it's good to know I'll be out there with my Willow cheering me on," Buffy answered. She pulled Willow close to her and rubbed her nose against Willow's, She smiled as Willow giggled at the contact between them.

They stayed like that for a while, just resting their foreheads against each other's, enjoying the warmth until finally: "Want to stay over?" Willow shyly asked.

"Hmm, need to call Mom first," Buffy said as she played with the pom-poms. She had weaved the yellow and red ribbons together and it made her think about what a nice red color Willow's hair was.

It was by mere chance that the team colors of the Razorbacks so nicely mirrored Buffy and Willow's hair. Yet, if truly in love, people will find reminders of their loved one in nearly everything they see. It just so happened that Willow's pom-poms were a beautiful metaphor through which Buffy could focus her thoughts about her cheerleader.

When they were getting ready for bed and Buffy was slipping out of her clothes, she couldn't help but to sneak a peek at Willow. Willow dressed up in her red pajamas while Buffy herself buttoned up the borrowed yellow pajama top. Buffy then dove under the covers like a little girl, which made Willow smile.

Willow debated internally how far she should button her pajama shirt up, settling finally on leaving the top two buttons undone.

Still, one button or two, the girls did look delicious in their night clothes. Enough so that a single glimpse would most likely fuel a young man's fantasies—let alone each other's—for months if not years to come.

Before heading for the bed, Willow picked up Buffy's team jacket, shook out a bit of dust, and hung it on the back of her chair. She then started to fold the slayer's clothes and lay them out on her chair for the coming morning.

"Willow, stop that," Buffy ordered with a giggle from the bed.

"Sorry," Willow apologized with a blush. She slipped into the bed next to Buffy. "Didn't really plan on 'sleeping' with the quarterback so soon in the season," she then joked, ending it with a lengthy yawn. She grabbed her mouth as soon as the words had left it, but still yawned a bit while still wide eyed with shock. Making a truly bizarre sight to see and hear.

'Only Willow can have a shocked yawn!' Buffy thought as she buried her head in the pillows to muffle her laughter. "Sorry, sleepiness," she said as she came up for air, only to see Willow's smiling face.

"I'm really happy you're here with me tonight, Buffy," Willow said, her voice a little bit sleepy as she wiggled herself into a comfy position.

I—" Buffy started but then decided against it. "I'm happy to be here too, Wills," she whispered as Willow gave her an impulsive little hug and burrowed her head in her shoulder.

"You're the best, Buffy," she whispered.

Buffy just lay there frozen for a moment before putting her arms around her Willow and hugging her back. "You're great too, Wills," she whispered into Willow's ear. She felt dizzy as the feel, sight, and smell of Willow assaulted her senses. She just wanted to hold her like that until the dawn.

As for Willow, she felt so good when Buffy's arms came around her—it kind of scared her a bit, how good it was. But she just felt so safe as she pressed herself against Buffy. She moved, with perhaps a bit more wiggling against the slayer than needed, until she was face to face with the other girl, without losing any of that warm and comfy contact. "Hmmm, people will talk if somebody sees you leave tomorrow." She giggled as she playfully rubbed her nose against Buffy's.

Buffy started to giggle too. "Little Willow bagged the quarterback. You can have bragging rights in the cheerleading squad if you want," she answered with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Willow turned a bit redder. "Will...will you brag too, then?" Willow asked in a shy little voice that made Buffy feel all tingly inside.

"Don't tease," Buffy mock scolded. She moved them around, cheating a bit with slayer strength, so that she was laying half on top of the taller Willow with her arms wrapped around her. "Not too heavy?" she asked as she snuggled into Willow's shoulder with a sigh.

"No, just perfect, Buffy. You're just perfect," Willow answered as she stifled a yawn.

"Any butterflies?" Buffy asked placing her hand on Willow's tummy. Then slipping it under the pajamas between the buttons.

"Your hands are cold," Willow giggled as Buffy stroked her tummy. She was sure that, if she was a cat, she'd purr right about now. "No, no butterflies," she answered. She looked down and watched where some of her long red hair mixed with Buffy's blonde locks as her eyes began to grow heavier.

Buffy kept her hand on her tummy. "Willow, if you get nervous, come see me, okay?" Buffy said in a soft and caring voice. She looked up and smiled at Willow. "Promise," she added as she started to pull her hand out of Willow's red pajamas.

Willow put her had on top of Buffy's. "I promise," Willow answered with a lazy smile. "Keep it there, please," she then added in that same shy voice. "Feels nice." With a guilty smile, she slowly unbuttoned the lower half of the shirt, leaving it hanging on by just a single button, making her even more exposed to the Slayer's roaming hand. "Buffy..." Willow started but it turned into a long yawn as her eyelids sank lower.

"Sleep, Willow," Buffy whispered as she kissed Willow on the cheek.

The sleepy cheerleader mumbled a sleepy, "Alright," and snuggled a bit closer against the warm and comfy slayer as she drifted off into the land of dreams.

Buffy, on the other hand, lay awake for the longest time just staring at Willow: her red hair, her soft pale skin. She marveled at the stark contrast between her own hand and Willow's stomach where it rested. When she was sure that Willow was sound asleep, dreaming of code and test scores, the slayer gathered her courage, raised herself up on her elbow, and whispered. "Willow I think...I think, I like-like you." Then she gently kissed Willow on the lips before resting her head on Willow's shoulder. Snuggling close, she gave in to the Sandman's call.

If somebody happened to look in on Willow's bedroom that night, not knowing the full story, they would have been misled. One would think that here two lovers slept, not merely two friends, such was the closeness of their embrace.

**Chapter Three: The Dawn of Game Day**

The warm dawn crept over Sunnydale on its lazy way to Willow's window. It burned away the darkness and the morning dew as it went, almost as if searching for a single window on a single house. Spilling its light through the curtains, it first caught in Buffy's hair. Finally reaching her eyes, it caused her to stir from her slumber. She awoke with slight confusion about her surroundings.

To say that Buffy was shocked when she woke up that morning in Willow's bed would be a bit of an understatement. It started out as a full-blown, five-alarm panic. Her terror then slowly settled into a frantic search for an escape and then finally morphed into guilty curiosity towards the girl in her arms.

'Oh my, oh my!' Buffy thought as she looked at the sleeping Willow, lying next to her with her hair spread out like a flaming red halo. Buffy's hand, which had been so comfortably and naturally spread across Willow stomach, had moved sometime during the night. Now it embraced the cheerleader, having forced open the final button on her pajama shirt.

'I'll have to fix that before she gets up or she'll be so embarrassed,' Buffy thought. She slowly withdrew the arm that was wrapped around Willow, only to find that the other was still asleep and numb.

'Crud, guess we'll test that slayer dexterity, then,' she decided, pulling Willow's red shirt across her exposed stomach. Getting the first button closed worked like a charm, even though the constant brushing against Willow's skin was proving to be a distraction at best.

'Okay, you can do this, Buffy,' she thought to herself firmly, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Her face was a mask of concentration as she worked on the button just under the curve of Willow's breasts.

Willow was having a very wonderful dream, the kind you have just before you wake up and that seem to last so long. Somebody was rubbing their hands over her tummy and it felt so good. Yet, as the hand moved upwards, the dream began to fade and Willow slowly opened her eyes.

'Buffy is touching me,' she sleepily thought to herself as she became aware of both her own body and Buffy's close by. 'Buffy is touching me,' she thought again this time with a joyful little mental giggle.

'Oh, that's kind of nice, getting dressed like this,' she thought and then gasped as Buffy's hand brushed against her breast shattering the illusion.

Buffy yelped and yanked back her hand. "Willow, I-I—," Buffy stammered as she fumbled to find a place to put her hand. She stopped when she noticed Willow smiling.

"Morning, you," Willow said as she stretched on the bed.

This caused Buffy's brain to short-circuit and her jaw to hang a bit loose. "Eh...uh..." Buffy tried to speak as Willow's lean form stretched out before her, the pajamas riding up exposing her tummy.

"Yes, my darling quarterback?" Willow asked with a giggle.

"You're teasing!" Buffy exclaimed as she snapped out of her Willow-induced mini-coma and bashed her with a pillow.

"Why yes, I am," Willow giggled as she defended herself and soon feathers were flying.

That's the scene Willow's mother walked in on. Well, Buffy straddling Willow, demanding her unconditional surrender, while she tickled Willow's bare sides. "Girls, don't you have morning practice?" Sheila Rosenberg asked, seemingly unfazed by the scene before her. Whether Sheila was either blissfully ignorant, or just universally accepting of the situation, her arrival still caused the girls to push apart with great speed, creating a healthy distance between themselves. She walked past the girls to fling the curtains open and push out the windows as they tried to hide their flushed faces.

"Morning practice! I forgot!" both girls exclaimed in unison. The two burst out giggling as Sheila walked out of the room again.

Sheila stopped to ask one last thing, "Oh, Buffy? Could you climb back out the window when you leave?" With that, and without even blinking, she was gone.

'Oh my god, she got my name right.' As she pondered that, she also had to fight the urge to reach for Willow and pull her towards herself again.

* * *

><p>At that morning practice, the sight of the two girls running out from the locker room a little late caused some eyebrows to lift. It only got worse when they separated and headed for their respective groups. Buffy had it easier.<p>

Coaches Jameson and Landis were the first to approach Buffy as she jogged out onto the practice field in the early morning sunshine.

"Sorry I'm late, Coach," Buffy said. "Overslept a bit. Must be jitters," she explained.

"Don't make a habit of it, Summers," Coach Landis reminded her.

"Good, you're here. We need somebody to run Wild Bill and Harry a while," Coach Jameson said, apparently oblivious to, or just ignoring, the signs that were screaming at him. The man really was too nice to be a football coach.

As Buffy walked towards the group, Coach Landis placed an arm around her shoulders to stop her. "Buffy, are you aware of the consequences of what you're doing?" she asked the quarterback.

"I don't know what you mean, Coach," Buffy stated in all honesty.

The older woman gave a maternal smile and patted the quarterback on the shoulder. "Well, when you do find out, you can come and talk to me about it," she told the girl. She pulled a ring on a golden chain out from underneath her jacket, took it off, over her head, and handed it to Buffy.

"Read the engraving, easier to explain that way," Coach Landis said with a loving smile.

Buffy's eyes went wide with understanding as she studied the ring between her fingers. The ring was engraved, easily readable to her eyes, 'Andrea and Julie 14/02/85'

"You?" she asked and looked between the ring and the coach.

Coach Landis smiled and nodded at the confused quarterback. "Andrea and I met in college. Fell in love. We've got a nice, little house not too far from where you live, and our daughter Litni is on the squad with your friend." She looked over to where the cheerleaders were stretching and beamed with pride as Litni waved at her. "So we understand each other?" Julia asked with a small smile.

Buffy nodded her head and handed the Coach back her ring. "I'll talk to you if things get wiggy," Buffy managed to get out before getting mobbed by her receivers.

"You work fast, Cap," Harry commented. With a lop-sided grin, he gave her shoulder a playful punch, but not the throwing arm mind you.

"It's nothing like—" Buffy started as Wild Bill came up and slapped her on the back with a cheerful laugh.

"Must say, you've got great taste, ma'am," he said as Buffy spun around and glared at him. Her anger eased when she realized that they were just being happy for her.

"It's not like that, though," she tried to explain. "And, Bill, it's Buffy. 'Ma'am' makes me sound all old and stuff," she told the grinning receiver.

Giving the twins a look, she asked, "What, no comments from you guys?"

The two huge boys just shook their heads and smiled knowingly.

"I'm telling you! We're just friends!" Buffy exclaimed and stamped her foot on the turf.

Even the defense had come over to join in the chorus of, "Sure you are," followed by the classic nudge-nudge, wink-wink as they elbowed each other.

Buffy pouted, "Really, that's all," as she crossed her arms.

"Ok, break it up, please?" Coach Jameson asked thus saving the entire team from Buffy's wrath. "Let's run some plays, shall we?" he said as he handed Buffy a red jersey. "Put this on, that way the defense knows not to tackle you," he explained.

"Thanks, Coach, but don't worry about me," Buffy said as she slipped on the red jersey. "I'm made of pretty solid stuff," she added as she took the field for the practice.

Coach Jameson looked after her as she left.

Coach Landis placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll do fine, J.J." she told him firmly.

"We'll see, we'll see," Coach Jameson said. He watched as Buffy called the play, then came the thud as the ball connected solidly with Wild Bill. "But, my golly, that girl can throw," he stated to Coach Landis's amusement.

Buffy took her position to start calling the plays. Then she locked eyes with number 78. It was one of the defensive ends—and Xander's old nemesis—Larry Blaisdell. She could just feel the disgust and anger coming off him.

"Blue 32, blue 32, hut, hut!" she shouted. As soon as the ball was in her hands, Larry made a beeline for her. She just knew he was going to try and tackle her. Backing up, she waited. She watched as Larry crashed through the twins and then, as he came flying, she dodged to the left at the last second, sending Larry crashing to the turf. Then she pulled back her arm and let then ball rip into Harry's waiting hands.

Coach Landis blew her whistle hard. "Blaisdell! What the hell was that?" she demanded. "You know well enough, red means stop!" she exclaimed.

"Good run," Buffy said as she offered him her hand only to have it swatted away.

"Larry? Five laps, if you please," Coach Jameson said in a voice that was the closest he got to anger.

"Sorry, Coach. Just seeing what the QB's made of, that's all," he apologized as he jogged off. As he went past, he gave Buffy a very nasty sneer that clearly said that she belonged in a short skirt, in the backseat of a car, and not on the football field.

Perhaps it was too much to hope that everybody would accept Buffy as the quarterback. Many a jocks ego had been bruised and, as the news had filtered out to the other teams in the division, the response had ranged from amusement, to shock, to pure outrage. One thing was for sure, nobody was going to go easy on the new Razorbacks' quarterback just because she was a girl. Aside from the Christian High School two counties over, of course.

Willow's reception at the cheerleaders' group was a bit different. It didn't help matters that she was blushing from all the attention and potential embarrassment that their little late-arrival scene had stirred up. There was stunned silent as they just looked at her for the longest time. No one was ready to accept that nerdy little Willow—brought into the squad at last minute through a mix of pressure from above and a mysterious disappearance—had snagged the female quarterback, not even one game into the season.

"What happened?" Cordelia stepped up and demanded, not fazed by the apparent Sapphic loving going on.

"Uh, we're just friends," Willow said as she looked at the stunned faces of her fellow cheerleaders. 'Well touchy-feely friends, but still friends,' she thought to herself.

"So, no kissing or second base stuff?" Cordelia asked as she looked Willow up and down looking for the usual: bite marks, hickeys, and bruises. This was the slayer after all.

"I don't even know how to play baseball," Willow answered truthfully. That broke some of the tension as Litni burst out giggling, followed by the other cheerleaders.

Having confirmed that the quarterback was still eligible, despite being a girl, the group quickly formed up at Cordelia's command. The real trouble regarding cheerleaders, at least for our quarterback, was soon to come.

While taking a break from hurling balls at running men, Buffy leaned back against the stands. She kept out of sight as she watched the defensive team run drills that involved running at high speed into a padded obstacle. She itched to join them, but a petite quarterback bowling over heavy equipment would certainly raise suspicions.

"Hey there," Cordelia said as she approached the quarterback, seemingly a little unsteady and nervous to Buffy's eye.

"Hi, Cordy. Are the cheerleaders ready?" Buffy looked up at the head cheerleader and smiled.

"We'll rule out there," Cordelia stated with some measure of pride. "We're just too pretty not to," she added with a smile as she edged closer to Buffy.

'What is she up to?' Buffy thought to herself as she felt Cordelia's hand brush against her leg and linger there.

"Buffy—" Cordelia started.

The light-bulb went off above Buffy's head as she felt where Cordelia's hand had wandered. "Whoa!" Buffy exclaimed. "Cordy, what are—" she was cut off by Cordelia's lips on hers. Freezing for a moment, then pushing Cordelia off of her, she gave her a stern look as she firmly gripped the cheerleader's shoulders. "What on Earth are you doing?" she whispered harshly. "You're straight, for goodness sake!" she hissed as she looked around. She dragged Cordelia even further out of earshot. The whole meeting had gone thankfully unnoticed.

"But, but..." Cordelia started. "You like girls don't you?" she asked and Buffy's face fell.

'Cordy knows,' she thought to herself. "How—how long?" Buffy asked as she let go of the cheerleader.

"Not long. It shows when you look at Willow, though," Cordelia explained with a shrug.

"But why did you kiss me?" Buffy asked, not letting this go.

"To see if I could," Cordelia answered and blushed a bit and shuffled her feet. "It felt kind of nice," she added batting her eyelashes at Buffy.

"Oh, Cordy," Buffy sighed and shook her head. "But Xander and—"

Cordelia promptly interrupted her, "Xander's great, but he's secret and you're the—"

"Don't say it," Buffy groaned.

"But you are the quarterback. That means that people will expect us to be together. It's the rules," Cordelia explained dead-pan as she teased Buffy by running a hand through her hair. "If you want, we could just publicly be a couple. You know, holding hands and kissing after the game. While I still kept seeing Xander, right?" she asked. From the sound of her voice one could almost think that this was the most normal thing in the world to her.

Cordelia moved in on Buffy again, using all of her come and kiss me moves, although she'd never used them on a girl before. In theory they should still work, or so she thought.

"It'll be fun, kissing, cuddling, going to second base," she whispered as she placed Buffy's hand on her chest. "Great for when we hit the road," she added.

Buffy resisted the urge to slap her. "Cordy," she stated calmly as she lowered her hand. "Even though I'm the quarterback and all that, it doesn't mean you have to do this. This isn't you, if it really was you'd have felt me up a long time ago," she explained. "And what about Xander and Willow, think they'll just take it?" she demanded as Cordelia's face fell a bit. "Be with the guy or girl you want to be with and all this social stuff be damned!"

Cordelia took a few moments to digest what Buffy was telling her and then broke into a grin.

"You like Willow," she stated.

Buffy groaned and buried her face in her hands. There really was no talking to this girl sometimes. 'At least she's giving up on the quarterback claim-age and the going all girl-on-girl for the sake of tradition,' Buffy thought ruefully. "Maybe. Now promise me, no more kissing me," she said in surrender.

"Ok," Cordelia agreed after some protest. "But your lips are so soft and taste fruity. What kind of lipstick do you use?" she asked.

Buffy just shook her head with a laugh. She then led the head cheerleader back to the field, giving her the details of where she bought her lipstick.

From not too far away, Litni Speed watched what was going on with a frown. It seemed like a certain head-cheerleader needed to be put straight, no pun intended, about some things at the first opportunity.

As the cheerleaders did their splits and the football team built up their spirits for the coming game, the third pillar of the team, that one person that the game can't be without, was getting dressed. Filling the mighty suit of Herbert the Razorback was a scrawny boy, and often an accidental hero, named Xander Harris.

'God, that little pig must be laughing at me up there in hog-heaven right now,' Xander told himself as he got into the costume. Picking up the head and examining he sighed. 'At least nobody will recognize me in this thing,' he reminded himself as he placed it on his head.

He took a few experimental steps and looked around. "Okay. I'm an overgrown pig. No biggie. I've been in worse places, I think," he said inside the suit and then looked down. 'How am I supposed to pee in this thing?' he thought in panic. 'Man I'm sure that pig is laughing at me up there right now,' he thought as he cast his eyes upward.

He turned and left the dressing room for the field only to slam head first into Giles. "Sorry, G-man," he apologized as he helped the watcher to his feet.

The watcher gave the young man a glare, but then the dry Brit inside him stirred to life. "I say, I've heard the phrase, 'You are what you eat,' but aren't you carrying it a bit too far?" he asked the young man with a perfectly stoic face. With a grin, he took his glasses off and polished them.

"G-man, I thought we had an understanding," Xander hissed under his breath. He knocked himself on the head while he was trying to put a finger to his lips, forgetting the big suit he wore.

"Oh, yes. I'm mum as the grave about your breaking with kosher habits, of course," Giles replied dryly. He gave a chuckle as he watched the young man stomp off in a huff. 'Even watchers can have fun now and again,' he thought to himself, then he went whistling on his way.

As the day drew on, and stomachs started to flutter, a lone bus sped past the Welcome to Sunnydale sign. It was carrying The Bulldogs: the visiting team and a highly favored contender for the state championship.

**To be continued...**


	2. Game Day

**Chapter Four: On the Green Field of Glory**

It's hard to describe the atmosphere that forms at the opening game of any sports season at any school. It's a heady mix of pride, ego, adrenaline, and truly garish colors.

Buffy could hear the dim noise drifting down into the cheerleaders' dressing room as game time neared. Her stomach was calm as she gripped the football in her hands. She was already dressed in her pads and uniform. Her gloves, a gift from her mother, smelled new and squeaked as she worked her fingers.

'I can do this. Just dodge and don't knock them over,' she thought to herself. She stood up and ran her hand across her tied up hair. It would have been picturesque to have it flowing behind her from underneath the helmet, but Coach Landis had quietly suggested she keep it tied up. No reason to give the jocks of Sunnydale High a bigger insecurity complex by having the quarterback take the field with her long blond locks flowing behind her. That would be just plain evil.

"Buffy," somebody—well not just somebody—a very delicious looking Willow whispered from behind her.

Buffy almost jumped out of her pads. She dropped the ball, then fumbled to catch it again before turning around. She came face to face with Willow; her hair done to perfection and her pale face brought forth by just the hint of makeup. Buffy softened on the spot. "Willow, you look...wow!" she said.

The cheerleader blushed a bit and hid her face in her pom-poms. "Cordelia and the girls did it," she explained.

Buffy pushed down the pom-poms to study her friend better. 'Wow. Willow has always been pretty, though,' Buffy thought to herself. She touched Willow's cheek, causing the other girl to blush even more.

"Yes, I am real," Willow giggled as she put down her pom-poms. She held up a canister with something very black and sticky in it. "For under your eyes," she explained as she opened the container. She took a black smudge onto her fingers and gently applied it under Buffy's eyes. Letting her hand linger there after she'd drawn the second line, Willow tried to remember to breathe.

Buffy captured Willow's pale hand in her gloved one and held it to her face. "You'll do great," she told her friend firmly.

"So will you," Willow said right back and gave Buffy a kiss on the forehead. Then she reluctantly withdrew her hand, lingering with her fingertips before letting go. "Well, we're up," she said and shook her pom-poms. "Wish me luck," she said.

"Good luck, Wills," Buffy said and smiled as Willow skipped off with her skirt swishing around her legs.

As Willow was exiting, Coach Landis entered the cheerleaders' locker room. She smiled at Willow when she skipped past and then gave Buffy a more knowing smile. "The boys are dressed and waiting for you," she told her.

"Err, Coach..." Buffy started as she looked up at the woman who'd earlier that day told her about her own wife and daughter.

"You care about her, don't you?" Coach Landis asked as she studied the quarterback.

"Yes, yes I do." Buffy confessed and looked down at the ball in her hands and gave it a good squeeze.

"I think she cares too," Coach Landis told her as she patted her shoulder. "It'll work itself out," she told Buffy as she led her out across the hall and into the boys' locker room.

Buffy entered the room and felt very small for the briefest moment as she shouldered her way past the defensive team. She approached Coach Jameson standing at the blackboard. "Coach," she nodded, taking her seat in front of her locker. It was reserved for her, despite her dressing in the other room.

"Good, we're all here," Coach Jameson said as he looked around at the team he'd assembled for the season. Many things could be said about the Sunnydale High Razorbacks' that season, but the cruel joke would be that they were tall, lean, mean and busty. Coach Jameson only saw potential that day: A truly unorthodox team put together by an unorthodox coach.

"We've got some new faces with us this season. Some are no longer with us and we're sad for it, but we also rejoice at these new arrivals," he said and allowed his eyes to scan the group. "Each one of you brings something different to this mix. Some of you might run faster than a speeding train, if you tried. Others might be able to tackle a raging bull to the ground, if you tried. Some of you could hurl a rock to the moon, if you tried," he paused and looked at the slightly confused team, the juniors more so than the seniors. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, you can do anything if you just try," he explained as he scratched the back of his head.

Coach Landis stepped up and gave him a good pat on the back before facing the team.

"You know the plays, you've trained hard, and you've got the will to win," she said in a much firmer voice. "We've got everything we need right here," she said and beat her first against her chest and was met by a chorus of, "Yeah!"

At first, Buffy found it a bit awkward saying, 'Yeah,' as Coach Landis started to walk around the room.

"We've got everything we need right here," she said and patted a big linebacker on the shoulders.

The shouts grew louder and Buffy started to feel herself swept along.

Grabbing Buffy by the arm and raising it into the air, Coach Landis looked around. "We've got everything we need right here," she said as Buffy blushed a bit at the attention. "So get out there and give 'em hell!" she exclaimed and the team exploded and Buffy felt herself being pushed out of the room by a wave of bodies.

"Sorry, J.J," Coach Landis said as the team followed them out.

"It's okay, Julie. They need to hear something fiery every now and then," Coach Jameson answered with a saintly smile as he watched his team race through the tunnel leading to the field.

* * *

><p>The Razorback cheerleaders were whipping the crowd into frenzy. Willow felt like she was dreaming; the calls of the crowd barely registered with her as she went through the routines. Never in her life had she suspected that she'd be chanting and shaking her hips like this, but now she was out there and she loved it. She was standing on the sidelines as the announcer was introducing the opposing team. The whole stadium held its breath. There was a brief pause, followed a by a drum roll from the band. Willow couldn't shake the feeling that one of the flute players looked very familiar somehow.<p>

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the pride of Sunnydale High School: The Mighty Razorbacks!" thundered over the speakers. The crowd jumped to its feet and the noise was overwhelming when the Razorbacks burst from the tunnel. Willow jumped to her feet and started her routine, but her eyes were fixed on the petite quarterback with the number 9 and 'Summers' written on her back.

The two teams' quarterbacks approached the center of the field. The referee flipped the coin, Buffy called, "Heads," and the three watched as it landed heads-up on the green turf. After a single word from Buffy, the referee exclaimed, "Razorbacks choose offense!" he turned back to the team captains, "Now, shake hands."

The Bulldogs' quarterback, decked out in white and blue, leered at Buffy as she offered him her hand. "Shouldn't you be cheering?" he asked as he took Buffy's offered hand.

Buffy just smiled at him and shook his hand firmly. "You know, I was going to ask you the same thing," she answered and winked at him, causing him to glare.

In the huddle, Buffy talked the team through the play and tried not to sound too nervous or giddy about the whole thing. "Okay, we'll go with Red Three on one," she explained. She looked at the Smith Twins. "Boys, those guys really don't seem to like girls as quarterbacks," she said with a grin.

Her comment was met by denials like, "No way!" and, "Why not?" from the team.

"So, do your best to stop them," she said.

The twins nodded and looked at each other grinning.

Yes, the calm and usually quiet Smith Twins really came alive on the field. They took great pleasure in smashing the other team into the green turf with as much force as they could muster. It was either that or cow-tipping.

"Wild Bill, stay sharp. The ball will be heading for you this time," she said.

Wild Bill nodded as he tugged on his gloves.

Buffy looked around at her teammates and smiled at the hope she saw, it brought the butterflies back to her stomach in swarms. They really were counting on her to lead them to victory. Every boy was hoping against hope that maybe, this year, they'd reclaim their pride and dignity. "Now, they don't like us and we don't like them, but let's try to play a good, fair game," she said. After one look at the stunned faces of her teammates, she broke into laughter. "Let's make them wish they'd never passed the county line!" she shouted.

A chorus of, "Hell yeah!" answered her.

She thrust her hand into the center of the huddle. "What are we?" she shouted as other hands joined hers.

Coach Jameson had explained this ritual to her earlier. He'd said that it was a long standing tradition for the quarterback to ask that question, once hands were joined in the huddle. He did not elaborate on it, he only asked her kindly to keep the tradition alive. Sometimes Buffy felt she needed a Football Ritual book to go along with her playbook. This game was just full of little things that made it as complex as any spell from Giles' books.

"War Pigs!" the team shouted as they raised their hands into the air and took the field.

A shrewd person would have noticed the Black Sabbath reference; it had been the Razorbacks' war-cry since the early eighties and it somehow stuck with the team, although its origins were one of those High School legends. Some said a metal fan had once been the quarterback back in '87. Others said it was because the mascot back in '81 had gone nuts and rushed into the field—tackling four and causing much injury and mayhem—before being brought down by both teams.

Willow watched from the sidelines while she cheered for the Razorbacks. She smiled when she saw Xander in his pig-suit hamming it up for the crowd: Doing pratfalls and being a total pig at the Kool-Aid counter. He was giving the waterboy no end of grief as he kept stealing the cups.

"Go 'Backs! Go 'Backs! Take on those hacks," Willow cheered and shook her hips, without any hint of being uncomfortable. For as long as Buffy was out there she'd be here. 'Oh, that's so cute,' she thought when she spotted Giles and Joyce in the stands, almost missing her cue to link up with the rest of the squad. She executed a back flip and finished off the routine with her pom-poms raised high in the air, shaking them and cheering her team on.

Giles and Joyce watched from the stands. Giles was in full tweed regalia, but with a Razorbacks scarf, and looking very much the perfect English gentleman among the American barbarians. "Tea?" Giles offered Joyce as he poured himself a cup from his thermos.

Yep, Giles was going about this in as dignified a manner as possible, and he was not going to sit through all this without his tea. Of course, he'd brought two cups, just in case.

"Yes, thank you," Joyce said absently as she accepted a cup. Joyce, the proud mom, was wearing a very silly hat that read, 'My daughter is the QB,' and carried a Razorbacks' pennant. She kept a close eye on her daughter out on the field.

The kick-off went off without a hitch. The Bulldogs' kicker—half-mule, some said—drove it deep into the Razorbacks' end zone. Harry Kim caught it and ran forward, reaching the fifty yard line before he was taken down.

The teams formed up for the next play. Buffy took her place and looked over the Bulldogs' defensive line. She could easily see that, for the most part, they were either nervous newbies in their first game or bored veterans. The old hands obviously suspected a cakewalk against the team with the biggest losing record in the past fifty years.

'Well, I'll give them cake,' she thought as she crouched low. She called the first play of the game. "Red Three! Red Three! Hut!" she yelled. The ball flew into her hands as the field exploded into a melee of clashing pads, helmets and bodies.

The Twins did their job well as they brutally and efficiently kept the defensive ends away from her. Still, one got through the wall that was the Smith Twins.

Buffy backed up for the throw and watched Wild Bill take off like he had wings on his feet. The defensive end went flying towards her, screaming something very rude about her butt. Buffy just allowed herself a small smile as she waited until the last second.

Joyce and Willow both gasped when they saw the defensive end hurl himself at Buffy, while Giles just watched calmly, hoping that she'd dodge instead of just swatting him away. Coach Jameson gave a quick Hail Mary.

Buffy dodged and rolled, then came up and let the ball fly into the air. The stunned crowd watched as the ball sailed into Wild Bill's hands, then came to life with a roar when he was taken down at the thirty yard line by the scrambling Bulldogs' defense.

The play had resulted in a twenty yard gain and Coach Jameson cracked a small smile as he heard the crowd behind him in the stands go wild.

The game dragged on by yards, feet, and sometimes inches as the teams moved back and forth across the green field. By turns, the crowd cheered and booed as just about everyone that could be, got slammed to the ground. But through it all, the Twins stood like rocks while Buffy's aim was true and always dead-on target. Coach Jameson was calm, despite the fact that the first win in a long time was in sight, while Coach Landis chewed her nails down to nothing as the clock ticked on. The cheerleaders cheered throughout it all.

Trouble began at the start of the third quarter. With the 'Backs leading twenty-one to seven, they were on their third down with over twenty yards to go. A lone, frustrated linebacker—a big boy wearing the number 79—charged Buffy before the ball was in her hands. He managed to break past the surprised Twins and slam into Buffy sending her to the ground. The crowd gasped as one when the linebacker stood up but Buffy didn't. Willow almost rushed out onto the field only to be restrained by Cordelia who kept a worried calm. Xander grabbed his head—well his fake-head—while Joyce was running down to the field with Giles trailing behind her. The announcer, momentarily stunned by the sheer brutality of the move, snapped out of it and grabbed the microphone. "Foul, flagrant foul!" he screamed. Buffy lay still on the green field, staring up at the blue skies with a frown on her lips as the referee blew the whistle.

"Malicious unnecessary roughness! Number 79! Fifteen yard penalty! Player disqualified!" the referee called out.

**Chapter Five: Girl of Steel**

It was an eerie scene as the team rushed towards Buffy's supine form. The cheerleaders hid their faces in their pom-poms and the linebacker was soundly booed as he headed for the locker-room. Everybody froze when Buffy stumbled to her feet, taking off her helmet and shaking her long blond hair loose.

"She—She's up! Ladies and gentlemen, that is truly a Girl of Steel!" the announcer exclaimed over the speakers. The crowd exploded and the cheerleaders came to life.

Willow, most of all. She started jumping up and down and was nearly in tears, she was so happy that Buffy was unhurt. 'She's alright, she's alright,' Willow thought. The other cheerleaders started the soon-to-be-familiar cheer of, "Give me a B!" and the crowd responded with vigor.

"Cap, you okay?" Harry asked as he looked Buffy over for any signs of injury, only to be pushed aside by Coach Landis.

"You alright, Summers?" she asked as she looked Buffy thoroughly over with trained eyes and a worried frown.

"Don't worry, Coach," Buffy said as she pulled off her gloves. "I rolled with it, wasn't so bad," she explained. "Kick-boxing," she added.

Coach Landis nodded. "If you don't feel like finishing, 'cause we could always—" she was stopped by Buffy's raised hand.

"I'll finish. I think they need to lose a bit bigger now," she said with an evil little smile as she started rubbing her throwing arm. "Plus we've only got five yards to cover now," she added.

'Girl's got heart,' Coach Landis thought with a smile. "Okay, you're in. Give 'em hell, kiddo," she said and patted Buffy on the shoulder.

Buffy took her place in the huddle and slipped her helmet back on, leaving her blond hair flowing out behind her. No mercy for the jocks this time around.

"You okay, ma'—Buffy?" Wild Bill asked, catching himself and giving and apologetic smile.

"Never better, Billy-boy," Buffy said with a grin and then looked at the Twins. "You boys ready to hurt some jerks?" she asked and the twins nodded with eager smiles. "The call is Yellow Two, we go on three. Don't leave a defender standing. You with me?" she exclaimed.

"Yes Ma'am!" the team shouted as one. Buffy gave Wild Bill a glare, then smiled at the team.

The Bulldogs must have known they were in for it when the Razorbacks took the field again for the final play of the quarter. Buffy seemed to have grown taller somehow as she took the field with the Twins flanking her. She was a fierce vision; with her hair trailing behind her like a waterfall, a swagger in her step, and a predatory smile on her lips.

"Oh, that looks like one determined lady," the announcer said over the speakers.

"Please, Lord, don't let her break any bones," Giles offered up a quick prayer when he saw his slayer take the field with a very familiar swagger to her walk.

'Oh yeah, jocks to the slaughter,' Xander thought with a grin from underneath his fake-head. He kept hamming it up for the audience although he really did need to pee right about now.

Buffy stared down at the players in front of her with fire in her eyes and looked at the end zone behind them. 'I could just jump over them, but that's a bit too flashy,' she thought as she ran her hand over the turf. "Yellow Two! Yellow Two! Hut, hut, hut!" she yelled. Once again, the now familiar roar of bodies springing into action and clashing filled the field.

Buffy held the ball in viselike grip and backed up one step. Then she put her head down and rushed headlong into the pile. It was as if the tangled mass of bodies parted before her as the Twins rushed a path through the defenders and Buffy dove in after them. Time seem to crawl to a halt as she sailed through the gap between the twins. She landed with a thud in the end zone. As the referee blew the whistle, she spiked the ball into the ground, tore off her helmet, and did a split to the roaring approval of the crowd.

"Who's the cheerleader now?" she shouted at the Bulldogs' quarterback who stood at the sidelines. She laughed when he kicked at his helmet, hurting his foot in the process.

The defensive line took the field after Buffy did her splits. Larry, the defacto defensive team leader was none too happy. The little dyke was hogging all the glory and being a general tease. At least that was his version and he was sticking to it.

"Okay, boys, let's show them what the defense can do," he said. He gave a growl at the defensive line that seemed overly focused on the still celebrating quarterback. The little bitch was now doing back flips along with the cheerleaders in an effort to further piss off the Bulldogs.

"Guys! Focus on the game, not the sideshow freak," Larry snarled at his teammates and was met by rather offended glares.

"Man, what's your problem, Larry? We're winning for the first time in, like, forever," a senior asked.

Larry grabbed him by his face guard. "Girls don't play football! And girls don't date cheerleaders!" he growled. "Now stop this play or go join the dyke up there dancing," he spat, then pushed the linebacker away.

The Razorbacks' defensive line did their job well and the Bulldogs were in for a world of hurt on both ends. Larry slammed into the Bulldogs' quarterback with an almost feral snarl on his face. The ball rolled out of the quarterback's hands only to be picked up by Larry. He rushed towards the Bulldogs' end-zone, only to be brought down by three tackles. Still, after the dog pile, he came up grinning and pumping his fists in the air. His moment was broken though when his quarterback called out to him as he headed for the bench.

"Hey, Larry. Good work," Buffy yelled to him as she took the field for the offensive line, only to have the defensive end glare at her and mutter something rude. "Well, he's not in a good mood," Buffy said more to herself than to anybody.

"Oh, ignore him, Cap," the senior that had defended her earlier said as he passed her. "Larry has issues, that's all. Once we win a few, he'll get over it," he explained and high-fived Buffy as she took the field.

* * *

><p>It was a victorious team that returned to the Razorbacks' locker room after the final whistle had been blown. The Razorbacks were high-five-ing each other left and right. When Harry made the mistake of patting Buffy's butt, he braced for the hit. She just smiled and patted his right back.<p>

The whole celebration came to a sudden halt at a single word uttered by a single girl. "Buffy!" Willow called out, waving her pom-poms to get the quarterback's attention.

The entire football team froze, while Larry went in the locker-room in a huff.

"Go on ahead, guys, I'll catch up when you get dressed," Buffy said. With sly smiles and pats on her back, the boys filed into the locker room until it was just Buffy and Willow alone in the hallway.

"Willow..." Buffy said as she walked up to her best friend. Her heart was racing, her body full of adrenaline, and she seemed to have tunnel vision focused only on Willow.

"Buffy..." Willow said again, her voice a little lower as she looked down at the pom-poms in her hands.

"We did good," Buffy whispered and took Willow's hands in her own.

"Yeah, we kinda did, didn't we?" Willow asked as she looked back up at Buffy's smudged face. She admired how Buffy's hair, even though it was suffering from very bad helmet hair, looked wild and untamed and somehow appealed to her very much.

"So, no more butterflies?" Buffy asked as she, too, took in Willow's flushed face and her sparkling eyes. She loved that Willow's red hair had slipped back into its natural state, flowing down towards her shoulders.

"Not sure." Willow gave a sly little smile of her own. "Might need you to calm me down before the next game like you did last night," she answered truthfully and was almost leaning into Buffy when a head poked out of the boys' locker room.

"Cap—oh, I'm sorry," a blushing Harry Kim said as he looked away.

The two girls broke apart; the moment gone, never to return. Well, maybe not never, but no kissie-goodness for now, at least.

"Yes, Harry?" Buffy asked. The mock growling in her voice made Willow giggle.

"We were wondering if you were going to join us for some celebrating tonight?" he asked as more heads started to peek out of the room.

"If I say yes, will you go shower?" Buffy asked and Willow was giggling into her pom-poms now.

"Great! The Bronze, tonight. Bring a date, if you want," Harry called back and his head vanished back into the locker-room. Buffy's ear could hear the questions of, "What did you see?" and, "Did she get lucky?" from inside the room. Turns out football players are worse than a sewing club when they get going.

"Be my date?" Buffy asked on impulse and then blushed.

"Pick me up around eight?" Willow answered. She kissed Buffy on the cheek before skipping off to the cheerleaders' locker room.

'Oh, I think I'll just lounge around here a bit,' Buffy thought as she touched her cheek. '"Naked Willow" is not the thing I need to see right now,' she thought with a smile.

"Good game," Coach Landis said from behind her, almost making her jump.

"Coach, yeah, thanks," Buffy answered when she got her breath back.

"The hair shaking was a bit dramatic, but the split was a classic," the older woman said with a laugh. "Oh, I'm inviting you to dinner tomorrow," she added. "We've got some new plays we need to go over and, before you ask, the school board doesn't think it's fitting for Coach Jameson to have you over at his house," she said with a frown.

"So, I get to meet Andrea?" Buffy asked, trying not to sound too excited.

"Yes, and Litni too," Coach Landis answered. "Maybe you'll learn something more than just plays," she added.

"When do you want me over?" Buffy asked.

"Around six. Bring your playbook," the coach answered before heading for the boys' locker-room to congratulate them.

'This should be interesting,' Buffy thought as she walked towards the girls' locker room with her helmet under her hand and a smile on her lips.

'God, I'm so hungry, I could eat a cow right about now. But if I want to keep my figure, I better stick to a nonfat yogurt,' Buffy thought as she entered the locker room. Her senses were immediately assaulted by the presence of nearly a dozen half-naked girls. She shook her head and tried to ignore the desire rushing through her veins. As Buffy undressed and stored away her gear, she couldn't help but catch the occasional towel wearing cheerleader, or a small group of them, casting long glances in her direction.

It would seem that Buffy's stock had risen even more amongst the cheerleaders. She'd proven that she was more than just the quarterback in name only, she was also a very good one. The after game party at the Bronze would prove to be very interesting indeed, since the girls—some still harboring thoughts that made them blush—hadn't heard the speech Buffy had given Cordelia earlier that day. In other words, the locker room was every male's fantasy come to life.

The scantily clad girls whispered amongst themselves while Buffy got undressed and ready for a much needed shower. Buffy wrapped a towel around her body, hiding her lean form away from admiring eyes behind white terrycloth, and headed for the showers. That short walk stretched out like a minefield in front of her. But these mines were half-naked girls. As she passed each cheerleader, she was greeted by an array of thinly veiled flirts and compliments. Some were just cheering for her, others had other plans.

"Great game, B," a brunette with very generous chest said as she was bending over and slowly pulling on her socks.

"What you doing after the game, QB?" a junior asked as she combed out her long blond hair.

"Great game, Buffy. Way to show those boys," Litni shouted out to her and it made Buffy smile.

"That bruise looks bad. Need somebody to rub you down?" a redheaded senior asked. She trailed her fingers across a bruise on Buffy's shoulder that would be gone in a few hours.

At that point Buffy was trying very hard not to run.

"Nice split. Maybe we should have recruited you for the squad," a smiling Cordelia, wearing only towels around her body and hair, said as she walked past.

"Thanks, but I kind of like football now," Buffy answered and pulled the towel around her body a bit tighter As she walked off to the showers, she had to repress the urge to swish her hips. 'What's going on? Gym class never affected me like this before! Get some control, Summers!' She firmly brought all swishing under control and tried not to glance at the girls as she passed.

Standing under the shower, facing the tiled wall, she let the water wash away the smell of grass and the smudges of dirt from her body. Buffy closed her eyes as she let the water run down, then she turned around and opened her eyes. She nearly squeaked because the showers were now empty, aside from Willow and herself. Willow was apparently enjoying a long shower as she stood under the falling water, facing the wall, partly covered in soapy lather, humming, totally oblivious to the world.

'Don't check Willow out. Don't check Willow out. Darn, too late,' Buffy thought as she watched Willow wash herself. After a firm mental slap, she hurriedly finished and rushed out of the showers. 'Buffy, get a grip, you've seen Willow before. Nothing new there,' she thought as she hurriedly dried off. 'But not all naked, soapy and wet, and her butt—STOP IT!' she thought to herself as she punched the locker in front of her. Buffy took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. 'Okay, sure. Gym class showers with Will were always a guilty pleasure but, wow! It was never so...intense. I gotta take it easy! I can't push her into anything.'

After she got dressed and was about to leave, Willow's head poked out of the showers. "Remember, eight o'clock," Willow called out and gave a very obvious wink.

'Date, oh gawd. Hey, did Willow just brag?' Buffy thought franticly with a smile as her brain sorted itself out. "Pick you up then," she called back, then walked out past the stunned cheerleaders. She managed to get a good distance down the hall before breaking down into a fit of giggles.

Yes, that night at the Bronze promised to be an interesting one, that much was for sure. A night full of general weirdness and gender-role confusion, all packaged into one of the biggest parties Sunnydale had seen in a long time.

**Chapter Six: After Game Party**

Buffy shifted her feet as she rang the doorbell on Willow's house at eight p.m. sharp. Buffy had, perhaps unknowingly, dressed a bit boyish for her 'date' with Willow. Her hair was still a bit wild from the game earlier. She'd run a brush through it but, despite her best efforts, it just wouldn't obey her commands or curses. She'd forgone her many short skirts for pants and had finally resigned herself to a ponytail as the only painless option for her hair. 'I hope her dad isn't home,' Buffy thought to herself. She straightened her posture when she heard the door being opened.

Sheila Rosenberg smiled at her and that almost made Buffy go for her stake. "Hello, Buffy. Why don't you come in? Willow is getting ready," Sheila said, then escorted Buffy into the house. "You could go up to see her if you like," she offered.

Buffy tried not to freak out at how nice Willow's mom was being. "No, I'll think I'll wait here, if you don't mind," Buffy said with a gulp. It didn't make any sense. Sheila was acting so out of character, she had to be a vampire or a demon or something. Buffy tried not to stare too hard at Sheila and waited for her spider-sense to kick in, but nothing pinged. 'This is freaky, beyond freaky,' Buffy thought as Sheila vanished into the kitchen leaving her alone to wait for Willow.

'Not a date, not a date,' Buffy kept chanting over and over in her mind. She heard a door open upstairs and she took a depth breath, then froze as Willow came down the stairs. 'It's a date,' Buffy thought and she let out the breath she'd been holding. She gulped again when Willow beamed at her and Buffy felt like she was going to turn into a puddle on the floor.

"Hi! A bit too much, huh?" Willow greeted and asked at the same time. She smoothed out her skirt and then straightened up a bit. She realized that she was about the same height as Buffy, thanks to the wonderful low slippers and Buffy's shrewd choice of footwear. "Told the girls the heels were a bit too much," she muttered.

"The girls?" Buffy asked for lack of anything else to say while she tried not to eat Willow with her eyes.

Willow was stunning in every sense of the word; decked out in a red skirt that swished as she walked and a golden top that was designed to enhance and show off. 'The team colors with just a hint of Velma in it,' she'd called it when the girls put her in it. Her long red hair was allowed to flow and move freely. Her very own 'ruby slippers', with just the hint of heels, gave her legs definition and made them all the more eye-catching to a very distracted quarterback.

'Girl Cute, Slayer—Snap out of it, this is Willow-friend,' Buffy thought to herself as she tried not to let her eyes roam all over Willow's form. She failed miserably. 'Glad I wore my heels, else I'd be like a midget,' her fashionable self added as she looked at the red shoes adorning Willow's feet. Thankfully Buffy's choice of footwear brought her almost to eye level with Willow, a feature she took advantage of by gazing longingly into her eyes. She settled on the best thing to say, "You look pretty."

Willow giggled and blushed. "Don't be silly, you're still the cute one," Willow protested. She motioned to Buffy's boyish outfit. "Even in that you'll make boys drool for sure," she added. 'Did she do that for me? Why?' Willow thought as she surreptitiously studied Buffy. 'She's being all boyish for me. Well, as boyish as she can be,' her confused little brain went on.

Buffy did look somewhat boyish, if you stretched the word far enough. Her high, black and open sandals brought her eye to eye with her taller friend while her black casual slacks gave her a bit of a more uniform shape. Her team jacket somewhat concealed her figure but, once it came off, the red buttoned down shirt and yellow baby-t showing behind it would kind of ruin the effect.

Buffy offered her arm to her. "Shall we go? The boys said we should be on time," Buffy said.

A smiling Willow took her arm. "Mom! I'm going out!" Willow called out.

Sheila poked her head out of the kitchen. "You bring her back before midnight, you hear?" she ordered Buffy. "And you can use the front door. Ira is out of town," she said and her head vanished again.

'I should open and hold the door for her,' Buffy thought. She tore her eyes from the cheerleader, just long enough to open the door with a flourish. She turned, holding the door, to give Willow a jaunty smile.

The redhead gave her a little smile in return. "Picking up some of those habits from Giles?" Willow asked.

Buffy closed the door behind them and blushed a bit at the comment. "Trying to be a 'gentle-slayer' for my Wills, that's all," she explained. She offered Willow her hand and the cheerleader quickly took it.

After walking towards the bronze in a dazed silence for a few minutes, Buffy managed to stop sneaking glances at Willow to comment some more on how great her best friend looked. "You look really pretty, have I said that yet?" Buffy asked.

"Yep, but thanks," Willow said with a perky little smile and she moved a bit closer to Buffy as they walked.

The quarterback had to remember to breathe and to keep reminding herself that this was Willow-friend, not Willow-girlfriend.

Eros was, no doubt, busily tearing his hair out and smashing his bow across his knee because Willow was apparently too stubborn to get the hint.

The world seemed to take notice of the couple as they moved down the street. A group of seniors driving to the Bronze passed by them, honking their horn, blasting War Pigs from the speakers, shouting, "Way to go, Steel girl!" at them. That last part made Buffy blush.

Sunnydale would never the same again, at least in the football sense. For the very first time there was pride in something—other than the Sunnydale High School's swim-team.

* * *

><p>The Bronze was loud, and looked quite strange decked out in the red and gold colors of Sunnydale High. A rock band was warming up on stage; an all-girl group. Buffy walked into the Bronze with Willow on her arm. She was gathered up in a bear hug by Wild Bill as soon as she entered, leaving Willow giggling when the receiver picked the slight quarterback up off the floor.<p>

"You made it!" Wild Bill said with a laugh. Yes, he was happy, no longer the brunt of jokes, but a hero. That feeling was bound to make anybody feel a bit happy.

"Bill, breathing...I...need," Buffy got out and Bill lowered her to the floor and Willow again latched onto her arm.

"You're looking stunning, Ms. Rosenberg," he said when he noticed Willow.

"Cap," Harry called out as he approached the quarterback. On his arm was a tall and statuesque blonde girl; an exchange student from Norway named Annika Hansen. She seemed a bit distant and cold, but was totally focused on Harry.

"Harry," Buffy said as she slapped him on the shoulder. "Still worrying about that pat?" she asked.

The boy blushed deep red as his girlfriend gave him a questioning look. "Harry?" she asked in an accented voice.

Poor Harry looked like he wanted to melt through the floor at that point in time. "I kind of gave her a slap on the butt," he muttered and then yelped as Buffy gave him a pat on the butt with a grin.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," she said and gave her best smile to his girlfriend. "Yours only?" she asked and the girl brightened up as she got the joke and patted poor Harry on the butt too.

"Yes. But if it's part of the tradition for you to pat him, I guess it's alright," she said.

Harry gulped and looked to Wild Bill and Willow for sympathy, but both the running back and the cheerleader were too busy trying not to laugh too loudly.

"Buffy Summers," Buffy said and offered the tall blond girl her hand.

"Annika Hansen," the girl answered as she shook Buffy's hand and then looked at Willow. "Your girlfriend?" she asked without blinking.

Willow blushed as Buffy started to stammer a response.

"Heads up, ladies," Wild Bill called out when the rest of the team noticed the arrival of their quarterback. Willow and Annika took a step back as Buffy was lifted up by a group of boys and carried over to the football team's table.

'Help me!' Buffy mouthed with a grin to Willow.

She just shrugged and followed the group carrying the quarterback. Willow found herself flanked and escorted by the Twins. When she looked up at the huge boys, they just glanced at the group of cheerleaders watching the proceedings. "Thanks, boys," Willow said, realizing that the twins had just saved her from being stormed by a mob of curious cheerleaders. The big twins just smiled their little smiles and nodded. Willow was, again, at Buffy's side when the boys put the quarterback down, then she felt a cup of something pressed into her hand. After sniffing it to confirm it was just a soft drink, she took a big gulp.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Wild Bill said, jumping up with ease onto one of the tables. He offered his hand to Buffy and then hauled her up onto the table. "A toast to the quarterback of Sunnydale High's Razorbacks and to our first of many victories this season," he said. He raised his cup in the air, followed by all, save Larry who was moping around in the shadows.

"Cap, you do the honors?" Harry asked from the group.

Buffy smiled and raised her cup into the air. "What are we?" she asked the gathered crowed in a loud voice.

She was met by a loud chorus of, "WAR PIGS!" when the crowd roared in response.

"What are we going to do in the next game?" she asked them.

The crowd, a bit confused, just stared at her and scattered questions of, "Try not too loose too big?" and "Forfeit!" were called out, although those voices were quickly glared down by the Quarterback.

Hiding her sigh and reminding herself the school really didn't know success. She drew herself up to her full height—not much, but the table helped. "We're going to dominate!" she shouted and thrust her glass into the air.

'Must thank Giles for suggesting that,' she thought with a grin. She was helped down from the table by Xander, who had somehow appeared, and Willow. Around them there were the thunderous shouts of, "Dominate, dominate!" from the gathered crowd while the band on the stage fired up.

"Great speech, Buffy," Xander said as he glanced over to Cordelia who was ignoring him again, since this was in public after all.

"Thanks, Xander," Buffy said and hugged her Xander-shaped friend. "You were great out there today," she added with a grin.

Xander groaned and buried his head in Willow's shoulder in mock despair.

"He couldn't pee," Willow whispered causing Buffy to almost burst out laughing, but, being a good friend, she kept it in check for Xander's sake.

The three friends shared a group hug to celebrate and then started to edge themselves closer to the stage. Well, not edging—the crowd parted like the Red Sea before Buffy and Willow, then slammed back.

This almost squashed Xander, leaving him firmly pressed between two very big girls with his hands outstretched. "Hey, Holy Moses, wait up!" he called out. He was hauled out of the squeeze by the girls who grabbed his arms and pulled. His sudden release caused the trio to stumble back and knock down Larry. The group landed in a heap on the floor with Xander firmly on top of the defensive end. "Just dropping by, Larry. Great game by the way," Xander quipped as the girls giggled. The group tried to get up from the floor.

"Get off me," Larry said through gritted death and roughly pushed the mascot off him. Getting up, he angrily pushed his way through the crowd, even throwing off the cheerleader that tried to calm him.

"That boy has some issues to work out," Buffy commented, Willow and Xander just nodded. The first cords of a song started to drift down from the stage and Larry's anger was soon forgotten. Except by Xander, who observed the defensive end as Larry made a bee-line for the defensive team's table.

The band threw itself into a catchy little rock tune and Buffy found herself staring a bit too hard at the guitarist and lead singer of the group: Josie something or other.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed when she saw what Buffy was looking at. She was torn between giggling and being huffy. 'She's supposed to be with me,' she thought, then caught herself. 'Yeah, she's my date,' she thought a bit firmer.

"Uh?" Buffy said. She looked away from the guitarist and at a mildly miffed, but very cute, Willow.

"How would you feel if I went all ga-ga over some guy in a band?" Willow asked.

Understanding dawned on the Slayer. "Sorry, I was just admiring," Buffy said and blushed as she scratched the back of her head.

Willow put her hand around Buffy's waist and pulled her close half in jest and half in all seriousness. "You're with me tonight, so no naughty slayer," she said.

Buffy looked confused as vampire at noon. "Okay, no looking," Buffy agreed and started to dance with Willow.

The band kept playing, Willow started swaying along with Buffy, and the world seemed to shrink down to just the two of them.

After much high-five-ing and back slapping goodbyes from the boys, Buffy walked Willow home in a daze. Willow hung on Buffy's arm, feeling a bit sleepy.

"You have fun, Willow?" Buffy asked as she supported the sleepy cheerleader.

"Yes..." Willow said but it trailed off into a stifled yawn and it made Buffy smile as she felt Willow lean into her a bit more.

Way to soon, Buffy found herself standing outside Willow's house, almost carrying her. "Willow, you're home," she said.

Willow looked at her with sleepy eyes.

Buffy glanced at her watch. '11:55, five minutes ahead of schedule,' Buffy thought as she tried not to look at Willow's lips.

"Thanks for taking me out, Buffy," Willow said with a sleepy little smile and tilted her face closer to Buffy's. Maybe it was lack of balance from sleepiness or just maybe because it was the thing to do and she wanted to do it.

"You...you're welcome, Willow," she said and briefly touched her lips to Willow's.

It seemed to wake up the redheaded cheerleader up. As Willow's eyes opened wide and then closed slowly, Buffy was trying very hard not to wrap her arms around the cheerleader, and failing quite miserably. Pulling apart and just staring at each other, they tried to understand what had happened when they kissed again. The kisses were small little kisses, both curious and exploring. Neither girl was thinking much. 'Wow, it's really happening!' was the thought dominating Buffy's mind. Willow was a variant on a theme thinking mostly, 'Jinkies, is this really happening?' They lost track of the time as each stole a kiss and then another while holding each other.

They stayed like that until Buffy's watch bleeped. It was now 11:59 and time to return Willow home.

"We, you, home," Buffy stuttered as Willow licked her own lips.

Willow opened the door and stepped inside a bit dazed. "See you tomorrow," Willow whispered as she stroked Buffy's cheek.

"Tomorrow," Buffy stammered a bit. Her mind wasn't really thinking about anything aside from, 'Willow girl...friend," and repeating it over and over again as she waved goodbye.

Willow closed the door, then turned and breathed heavily. 'Oh my god, oh my god, did I just...did I just...? Wow!' she thought as she stumbled towards her room. "Jinkies!" Willow whispered as she touched her lips and smiled before falling onto her bed.

Buffy walked home in a daze, just barely remembering to go out and vanquish evil on the way.

When she got home, she threw herself on her bed and hugged her pillow. 'Wow, wow, wow,' she thought and rolled around on the bed. She went to sleep with a big smile on her face.

Thus ended the first game-day of the season for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks and it's players and supporters. Everybody came away from it happier, even if a bit more confused than they had been when it had started. The Cheerleader and the Quarterback were both happier and more confused, more than most maybe. But you learn to take the good with the bad and both would certainly be coming for everybody involved with the Razorbacks this season.

**To be continued...**


	3. Road Trip

**Chapter Seven: Future Visions over Coffee**

Giles grunted but, to his stiff-upper-lipped credit, stood his ground as he trained—well, acted like a human punching bag—for his slayer. She'd come straight from football practice—juggling slaying and football was harder than it looked—but, the way she was laying into Giles, it was hard to see it having any effect on the Slayer/Quarterback's energy.

"Your rhythm is off," he groaned as he pulled off the heavy pads that kept him mostly free from harm. These training sessions—where the slayer got to beat up her watcher—were a long standing and proud tradition, but very painful for the watcher.

"Sorry, Giles. A bit scatter-brained today," Buffy apologized, then firmly knocked the watcher on his butt. "Better?" she asked while she offered him her hand with a smile.

"Much," he said in a breathless voice as she hauled him from the floor.

"Giles? I can ask anything, right?" Buffy asked as she picked up a war hammer at random. She started swinging it while thinking.

"Everything falls under Watcher/Slayer confidentiality, of course," Giles answered with a small smile. He leaned back in his chair and sipped the somewhat lukewarm tea.

"Well, it's about Willow," Buffy said as she swung the hammer around her head.

"Yes, quiet a change, I must say," Giles answered as he put his cup down. He looked at his slayer over the rim of his glasses.

"Yeah, big changes," Buffy muttered. She dropped the hammer back into the weapons chest, then closed and sat down on top of it.

"Buffy, if there's something you need to get off your chest, then I'm here," Giles said as he moved over and joined her on the chest.

"Giles, have slayers ever...you know, played for the home team?" she asked.

Giles stared a bit blankly while his brain translated, then it dawned on him. Buffy couldn't help but to smile at the goofy look that spread across his face; a mix of fascination and slight embarrassment. He took off his glasses and polished them so hard Buffy was sure he was going to break them, "Well, there have been documented cases of slayers that have fancied the fairer gender."

"Big changes with Willow," she explained as she took the glasses out of his hands. She placed them on his nose and smiled. "So it's okay, I mean with—" she started but Giles raised his hand.

"I'm your watcher, you are the slayer entrusted to my care. Nothing can change that," he explained. Then he smiled, "I just want you to be happy, Buffy. And if that is with Willow, then so be it." He looked into Buffy's wide eyes and asked, "Does she make you happy?"

"Oh god, yes," Buffy answered truthfully. "When I'm with her, I feel almost normal," she explained and thought to herself. 'And when she kisses me I want to—whoops! Not in front of the watcher,' she caught herself.

Giles gave his best fatherly smile to her. "Speaking of Willow, don't you have your get together at the Espresso Pump after your meeting with Coach Landis?" he asked.

Buffy realized the time, then cursed under her breath and jumped off the chest. "I'm late! So very, very late!" she exclaimed while she ran around the library gathering up her stuff. She barely paused to give Giles a tender look. "Thanks for be so understanding about all this, Giles," she said and beamed her brightest smile at her watcher.

"That's what I'm here for. Well, that and taking hits," he answered with a smile.

Buffy waved him goodbye and rushed out of the library, slamming doors behind her as she left the school building at near inhuman speeds.

'Proud of you, Buffy. No matter what you choose, nothing can change that,' Giles thought as he wrote in his Watcher's Journal. The elegantly written entry merely stated that his slayer had taken an interest in another human being that went beyond friendship and the social norms of the time. He underlined 'human being' and smiled before closing it again.

Yes, Giles was one proud father, err...watcher that day. He even added extra sugar to his tea and treated himself to a chocolate and blueberry muffin. Relaxing over the local paper, he smiled to himself when he read the headline: "Supergirl leads 'Backs to Victory"

* * *

><p>Willow waited at the Espresso Pump and fidgeted nervously. When they'd set this up, it had just been two friends meeting for mocha on a lazy day-off—now it had somehow morphed into something much more. She had chosen a yellow summer dress from deep inside her closet and wore her red slippers. She sipped her mocha and watched the clock tick on.<p>

'Should I kiss her when she comes?' she thought for the hundredth time. 'I mean we kissed A LOT last time and so it should be alright again,' her mind babbled on as she started folding the napkin into a little bird. 'We can't in here though, not in front of all these people, right now, kissing in public—but it's so nice and...' her mind babbled on as she examined her paper bird.

"Hey, Wills," was whispered from behind her.

Willow turned around to come face to stomach with Buffy, dressed up like she was going to church with her playbook in one hand and a flower in the other.

"For you," she said as she offered the white lily to Willow, then she bent down to give her a kiss on the lips. Buffy's darker painted lips meeting Willow's natural beauty and, again, the world seem to shrink in to just the two of them.

'Yummy...Buffy goodness,' Willow thought with a smile while her inner-cheerleader was doing back-flips and splits in joy.

In all honesty, only Buffy would go to church in a knee length—and that was stretching the term—black skirt and a white blouse with the top two buttons undone. But she did carry a small golden gross on a thin chain around her neck—Willow, no doubt, secretly wished she was that cross resting against Buffy's skin. The jacket was black like the skirt and her sensible, yet fashionable, black shoes topped off the outfit. Willow didn't see any boyishness this time, just a very curvy Buffy.

"Thank you," Willow answered, blushing and staring at the flower while Buffy took her seat.

'Does this mean more kissing?' she thought excitedly. 'Wait, kissing Buffy—what was she thinking? We can't, it's not—wait, kissing Buffy is good, but not in here—wait, we just did in here...' her mind babbled on as she just smiled a very happy smile.

"Mocha," Buffy told the waitress, who smiled a bit as she took her order. "Wills, you still with me?" she asked.

Willow, who was now smiling like a goof, said, "Yep, just perfect." She reached out and captured Buffy's hand in her own, then gave it a squeeze. "Just perfect," she repeated and smiled as Buffy's face just lit up at hearing that.

Buffy then remembered something she'd forgotten to mention last night—well, hadn't been able to get it in due to the kissing—but there was no time like the present.

"Sorry about staring at that girl in the band at the party," Buffy apologized and blushed.

Willow smelled the flower with a knowing smile. "Oh, I don't worry," Willow answered as she rubbed Buffy's hand. She glanced at a table not far from them, nodding for Buffy to look.

Buffy blushed when she looked and saw the singer from the band with what appeared to be the bass guitarist getting all snuggly. "I see..." Buffy said as she returned her eyes to Willow, only to see an impish little smile. "But I was being all piggish," Buffy explained, accepting the steaming cup of mocha the waitress had brought her.

"Well...you are a War Pig," Willow said as a peace offering. "Speaking of the team, how was your dinner at Coach Landis's?" she asked.

"It was different," Buffy answered as she stirred her mocha. "It was very normal. Andrea made us this wonderful Italian dish and it was all very happy," she said.

Willow was dreamily stirring her mocha. 'I hope Buffy likes kosher,' Willow thought as she had strange little visions of domestic bliss down the road. She looked down at her hand and imagined a thin golden band there.

"Litni is a great kid. You're lucky to have her on the squad," Buffy went on, took a sip of her mocha and smiled as she saw that Willow was staring dreamily at her. 'Wonder what she's thinking?' Buffy thought, studying Willow.

The cheerleader, in her cute yellow sundress, sipped her mocha and looked dreamily at Buffy. "Tell me more?" Willow asked, lowering her cup. She watched Buffy with a loving gaze while the slayer launched into a detailed description of her dinner at Coach Landis's house; how nice it all was and how the two women seemed perfectly happy.

Willow's little mind started to wander down nicer and nicer paths as Buffy went on about small things: the silverware, Litni's room, the pictures taken on vacations, and the wedding photos.

"Wills? You still with me?" Buffy asked. She smiled at the now completely zoned out Willow. 'Wonder what she's thinking?' Buffy thought again, then she just leaned forward and admired Willow's zoned out expression.

So let's take a little trip into Willow's imagination and observe, for a moment, what's going on in that cute little mind behind those beautiful eyes.

* * *

><p>Somewhere in suburbia, in the not too distant future, a small electric car turned into a driveway. A tall woman, of maybe thirty, stepped out of it with flowers in one hand and a small suitcase in the other. She made her way through the yard with a spring in her step, her face hidden by the shadows from the trees. After almost tripping over a pink hoverboard before reaching the front door, she stopped and patted herself, looking for her keys. Finding them, she made a victorious gesture before entering the house.<p>

The woman stepped into her home, dressed in her business suit. Her face revealed in the soft light of the hallway, her long red hair flowing down her shoulders, her posture tall and confident, eyes hidden behind wire-rimmed glasses, and her lips curled up in a happy smile. Willow Rosenberg-Summers was home after a long and boring business trip on behalf of WiffySoft, Inc.

"Buffy! June! I'm home!" Willow called out, then something small, with strawberry blonde hair, collided with her.

"Mommy!" the little bundle energy called June shouted, then hugged her mommy.

"Hi, Pumpkin'," Willow said as she knelt down and hugged her little girl.

"Did you bring me anything?" the little girl with oddly mismatched eyes of blue and green asked.

Buffy Rosenberg-Summers walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron. A loving smile appeared at seeing her wife home.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hand," Willow instructed her daughter. When the little girl did as she was told, Willow produced a small charm on a golden chain and let it pool in the child's palm.

The girl opened her eyes and looked at the gift, then up her mother with a big smile. "An air charm! Thanks, Mommy!" June exclaimed. She hung the blue charm around her neck, then looked up at Buffy, who was still just smiling and observing the scene.

Willow looked up at her wife, then stood and gave her a kiss before settling into watching their daughter.

June was almost jumping out of her skin with excitement. "Look, Mom, an air charm," she said, showing the gift to her moms, who just smiled.

"Now, you be careful with that," Buffy replied, keeping an arm comfortably around Willow, who leaned into her.

"I will. Can I go play with it now?" June asked excitedly, almost jumping up and down.

"Yes, but no scaring the cats," Buffy instructed.

The girl gave Willow another hug and Buffy a 'Who me?' look, then took off like a dart.

"She takes after you a bit too much, sometimes," Willow joked, handing the flowers to her wife.

Buffy took them with a smile and a wink. "And you. Do we need to go over the spell-book incident again?" Buffy shot back as she placed the flowers on the counter. She gave her wife of ten years a big, welcome-home kiss.

"You cooking?" Willow asked with a raised eyebrow. Remembering the last few times her wife had tried to cook, she shuddered.

"Don't worry. I called Giles and he walked me through it," Buffy answered. Just then the timer went 'ding'. "How did the convention go?" she asked, pulling a perfectly cooked pan of baked shnitzel out of the oven. She placed it on the counter as the room filled with the delicious aroma.

"Lots of boring speeches about where quantum technology might take the industry," Willow explained while she hugged Buffy from behind. "You would have hated it. They asked about you a lot though," she giggled.

"You still get asked about that?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow, then turning around to hug Willow.

"Well, when you're married to an American Legend..." Willow explained with that same impish grin that had made Buffy go all ga-ga fourteen years earlier—when they'd met and fallen in love after being 'just friends' first.

"I didn't do that much," Buffy countered with a blush. "I just threw the ball when they told me too," she explained.

"Sure, Forrest Gump. You led the fledgling MIT team to four championships in four years," Willow said with a little laugh as she thought back to their time there. "And you know they only formed the team to get the great Buffy 'Supergirl' Summers to attend," she added. She thought about the Supergirl costume Buffy had bought last Halloween and wondered if Xander was free to baby-sit soon.

"That's only because you wanted to go there and I needed something to keep me in shape," Buffy deadpanned, trying to look like it was nothing, but Willow knew her wife loved to play football. "And that's Buffy 'Supergirl' Rosenberg-Summers," Buffy gently corrected as she reached up to kiss her wife—

* * *

><p>"We're going to San Diego!" a very male voice intruded, rudely ending the daydream.<p>

This, of course, caused Willow to snap out of her little vision and, in turn, Buffy to snap out of looking lovingly at Willow. Both girls turned and glared at their Xander-shaped friend, who was grinning like the cat who just ate the canary as he sat himself down at the table.

"We're going where and why?" Buffy asked, a bit lost.

Willow took a big gulp of her mocha to calm herself. 'What just happened there?' she thought to herself as she lowered the cup, trying to still her shaking hand. 'Did we just have a moment or something?' she thought. She glanced at the clock, noting that some time had passed and that her mocha wasn't all that hot anymore.

"The first road game of the session is in San Diego, against the only team worse than we are...err, I mean, used to be," Xander explained with a big smiles.

"And this is news, why? The schedule's been up since day one," Buffy asked, slightly confused at Xander's excitement.

"True, but the news just came in that we'll be staying overnight," Xander explained with an even bigger smile.

"Xander, you're not thinking about doing anything naughty?" Willow asked and gave Xander her resolve-face.

"Yes, Xander. You gonna be naughty?" Buffy asked, making Xander's shoulders slump in defeat.

"Just a little, but I guess..." he trailed off with a sigh as a group of cheerleaders led by Cordelia passed by.

"Aww. There, there," Willow said in a comforting tone as she patted Xander's arm.

Buffy gave his shoulder a rub. "She'll come around," Buffy said to her friend.

Xander gave his brave smile, then flagged down the waitress to order some sugary goodness. Not that being around Buffy and Willow and getting touched wasn't goodness in itself, but he wasn't that dumb and knew when to play for it and when not to. Also they just looked so cute together.

'God, I hope she'll come around,' Buffy thought to herself. She thought about the scene in the locker-room and dreaded the coming week, which promised to be filled with confusing events and social-order zealous cheerleaders.

Then she caught Willow smiling at her and it all seemed easier somehow. 'Hmm, maybe some road-trip naughtiness—no, bad slayer,' she thought to herself, not knowing that Willow was having very similar thoughts, even as she laughed at one of Xander's jokes about the horrors of being the team mascot.

Next weekend couldn't come fast enough for the Razorbacks—road-trips were always a highpoint of any season. So many opportunities for all sorts of mischief and mayhem, not to mention that this trip came with much hope of another victory—something that the long starved team craved above all else. Well, maybe coming in close second to bagging a cheerleader, but it was right up there in the top five things that they wanted more than anything.

**Chapter Eight: Road Trip**

The scene in the Sunnydale High parking lot was that of utter chaos, and it wasn't the result of the bimonthly big bad—that had been taken care of the previous night. No, the source of this disturbance was far more human in nature. In the middle of it all stood the calm figure of Coach Jameson, appearing almost otherworldly in his stillness. The buses waited, already loaded, but a small problem had arisen just before departure. The problem wasn't pretty and it wasn't nice; it was Principal Snyder. There may be a 'pal' in principal but this one surely isn't anybody's pal.

"The school board, in conjunction with the parents council, has decided that it would be improper to have her alone with the boys for that many hours," Snyder argued.

Coach Landis bore down on him but was gently held back by Coach Jameson, who had taken a stance between the two combatants. "That's the biggest load of hog-wash I've ever heard," she exclaimed.

Snyder shrunk back underneath her gaze. "Th-the board feels that morally—" He started to pull himself up to his diminutive full height, but Coach Landis wasn't going to be stopped.

"She needs to be with the team! It builds unity and spirit. Having the playmaker ride with the cheerleaders makes no sense and could only hinder our efforts to win," she argued.

The two groups watched on. The boys were sad to see the only girl in the group go. The girls were torn between feeling down over not having more members of the football team on the bus and happy about having the quarterback there.

Buffy watched with sleepy interest. The buses had to leave early—really early—and she'd just planned on sleeping off a long night of getting rid of the bimonthly big bad. Some of which still clung to the bottom of her shoes, as a matter of fact.

"I'll ride with the cheerleaders," she said in a sleepy voice, ending in a very unladylike yawn. Coach Landis and Snyder were too busy arguing to hear her.

Coach Jameson did hear so he smiled at her and nodded his head for her to go ahead.

"Guys, get on the bus," she ordered the football team with a sleepy wave of her hand. Much to her surprise, the football team filtered onto their bus, thought not without getting their share of jokes in. 'Don't think I'll ever get used to them just obeying,' she thought, stifling another yawn.

"But I want to ride with the cheerleaders," Wild Bill quipped with his roguish grin on full display.

"I'll dress in drag if it'll get me onboard that bus," Xander suggested to the roaring laughter of the team and, of course, to the huff of Larry.

"Yeah me too. I mean, not the drag, but...hell, you know what I mean," Harry added.

The twins just nodded their heads with a smile.

This all caused the quarterback to give a 'why me' sigh before giving them their marching orders. "Harry, first off, Annika would kill you. Wild Bill, she'd kill you too for 'dragging' Harry into it," she said. She looked at the twins. "As for you two...well, you two would be okay," she admitted and the boys gave her big happy smiles. "But it would be kind of missing the point of separating me from the boys," she explained.

The boys hung their heads in mock sadness and marched onto the bus.

The groups quietly filed into their respective modes of transportation under the drone of the ongoing argument, until it was broken by the rumbling of starting engines. Coach Landis made a mad dash for the cheerleader bus as her final statement to the school board: if Buffy couldn't ride with boys, then she wouldn't either.

Willow sat in her seat on the bus. She'd been on the bus since the argument started and was studying for the History exam next week. In her lap were her History book and her notebook; she wasn't going to fall behind in her perfect grades just because she now liked to dance around in a short skirt and drool over Buffy.

"Drool over Buffy? I don't drool, do I?' she thought to herself while she doodled on the edges of her notebook in a flowery script.

'"Willow Rosenberg-Summers." Wow, where did that come from?' she thought starring down on the page. Underneath it she wrote, 'Wiffy,' then smiled and drew a heart around it. 'There, "Billow" works too,' she thought, her mind running through her thesaurus.

"Is this seat taken?" a sleepy voice asked.

Willow quickly hid her notebook before her brain even registered the owner of the voice. "Bu-Buffy?" Willow stammered while the quarterback slipped into the seat next to her.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Buffy said and flashed a sleepy little smile.

"You want the window seat so you can sleep?" Willow offered.

Buffy just nodded with a sleepy look on her face. "I do, but I don't want to stand up," she muttered while leaning up against Willow.

"It's okay. I'll just step over you and you can take my seat," Willow said, not fully thinking about what that move would entail.

"Okay. We can try," Buffy nodded.

Then the maneuvering began in earnest. Willow raised herself up and stepped one leg over Buffy's feet so she was hovering over Buffy. As Buffy was about to scoot over, the bus lurched and, instead of the window seat, she ended up with Willow in her lap, blushing bright red.

"Hey! Willow and Buffy are making out!" somebody called out and Buffy blushed even redder.

"We're not even out of the parking lot and they're already going at it," Cordelia said a little loudly.

The bus erupted into giggles, but was quickly silenced when Coach Landis came stalking to the back of the bus. Julia, to her credit, tried to conceal her amused smile at the sight of Buffy with Willow on her lap. "And what do we have here?" she asked, winning an Oscar for keeping in full coach mode despite the situation.

"Buffy wanted the window seat," Willow explained while she stood and the slayer scooted from underneath her. She quickly completed the maneuver and sat.

Buffy took her new seat with a guilty smile and her embarrassment showing on her face. "Sleepy," she explained to Coach Landis with her honesty face firmly on display.

"Very well. But no more funny business from you two," Coach Landis stated firmly. A small smile was tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, ma'am," Willow said, then she busied herself with her notebook.

"Yes, Coach," Buffy replied with a yawn while leaning against the window. The last thing she saw was the 'You are now leaving Sunnydale' sign speeding past her.

* * *

><p>Next to her, Willow was having a hard time focusing on her books since she kept glancing at the sleeping quarterback. During one of those glances, Buffy suddenly turned and nestled her head on Willow's shoulder. The cheerleader tried to suppress her "Eep!" It did get out but, thankfully, she managed keep it down to a mere whisper.<p>

Buffy snuggled a bit closer.

'Oh, warm Buffy,' Willow thought and leaned back against Buffy to provide counter-balance. 'So much for studying.' She smiled and shifted into a more comfortable position. 'This is nice.'

While the bus drove on, Willow continued sneaking in the occasional look.

When Buffy woke up a few hours later—somewhere between Sunnydale and San Diego—she noticed the state of utter boredom in the bus. Then she noticed where her head was resting; or, more to the point, on whom it was resting.

Willow was happily doodling something in her notebook, having grown quite comfortable having Buffy leaning against her.

When Buffy glanced at the page with a sleepy eye, she smiled a very happy smile, but decided to spare her friend the embarrassment. "Morning," she mumbled and stretched her arms into the air.

Willow snapped her book shut. "Eep! Buffy, you scared me!" she quietly exclaimed.

Buffy hid an amused little smile and couldn't help but stroke Willow's cheek with her fingers. "Thanks for letting me sleep, Wills," she said with a happy smile.

Due to the mix of Buffy's touch and the loving smile that was being beamed into her eyes, Willow blushed and started to babble, "Well, you looked really sleepy and you decided I was a good pillow and, well, I am a good pillow and you're kind of warm and—"

"Keep it down, you two," a grumpy Cordelia, sitting in front of them, called out, thus breaking both the babble and the mood. "Some of us are trying to nap," she complained.

"You won't get any prettier," Buffy answered back with a giggle.

Moments later, a disheveled Cordelia, wearing a sleep mask on her forehead, popped up from behind the headrest. "Say that again?" she demanded with a growl.

Willow hid her face behind her History book.

"I mean, how can one add to perfection?" Buffy deadpanned.

Cordelia completely missed the sarcasm while Willow sighed behind her book.

"Well, the Toro's cheerleaders are apparently very 'hot'," Cordelia explained. "So we must try." She put her hands on her hips, elbowing the girl sitting next to her in the face in the process.

"Hey! watch it, Queen C," her seat mate groaned.

Willow recognized the voice as belonging to Jennifer, a senior that she had some sneaking suspicions about.

"Sorry," Cordelia apologized, then went on, "But, as I was saying ..."

Thus, poor Buffy and Willow were treated to a long lecture on the greatness of the Toro cheerleading squad at Rancho Carne High School. Although their team apparently sucked more than the 'Backs once did, their cheerleading squad was the pride of the school.

"My reports tell me that their head cheerleader is a girl named Torrance and she's kind of like Buffy—only that she cheers instead of playing football," Cordelia concluded.

Willow and Buffy burst out giggling. "'Your reports'. You sound like M from James Bond," Buffy giggled.

Willow just hid behind her history book, but her laugh was unmistakable and music to Buffy's ears.

Cordelia really did look silly though: with her sleep-mask on; hair in disarray; hands firmly on her hips; kneeling on the seat, facing backwards. Add to that the fact that she was going on like some government official debriefing her agents for a dangerous mission while looking like that, and it was indeed giggle-worthy.

"Cordy, sleep," Jennifer ordered and gave Cordelia's butt a small smack.

Cordelia yelped out, "Hey! Hands off the goods," then grabbed her mouth.

This brought on another giggle fit from Buffy and Willow that, this time, spread through out the bus.

"Cordelia, Jennifer. I don't need to separate you two, do I?" Coach Landis asked from the front of the bus.

That only increased the laughter.

"No, ma'am," Jennifer called out. "Cordelia was just going back to her nap," she explained while she pulled Cordelia down into the seat again.

The rest of the trip passed in silence. Well, silence in term of noise, but some brains were very loud in their plotting and scheming. Or, in some cases, just totally focused on the person sitting next to them. As the rising sun greeted the buses while they thundered towards San Diego, nobody could suspect what would happen in the coming days.

* * *

><p>Buffy sat in the locker room going through her pre-game ritual. She could hear the distant roar of the crowd over the laughter of the cheerleaders while she pulled on her gloves and stared at her locker. They'd managed to check into their hotel, get unpacked, then get to the field on time and in one piece. Now, she just sat and went over the speech Coach Landis had told her to make.<p>

The cheerleaders filed out past her, each one giving her a pat on the shoulder and a kind word—well, a suggestion for after game activities and a flirty touch sometimes—but she didn't mind. Anything to take her focus off things for a bit. Her stomach was like a butterfly farm. This would be her first game away from home; away from the understanding home crowd.

"Buffy, you'll do great," Willow said, being the last cheerleader left in locker room. "Now stand up," she ordered.

Buffy obeyed with a smile.

"You're a great quarterback," Willow said firmly while she drew the black lines under Buffy's eyes with her slender fingers. "A good leader an-and—" she stammered when Buffy again captured her hands in hers in an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Willow," she whispered. She gave her cheerleader a small kiss on the lips. "Thank you."

"Just looking out for my quarterback," Willow whispered. She blushed, thinking she'd perhaps stressed the 'my' a bit too much.

"Go cheer," Buffy said with a laugh in her voice and gave Willow a wink. "I'll be okay," she assured her.

Willow's face lit up and she impulsively kissed Buffy before skipping out of the locker room. In yet another feeling of déjà vu, she passed Coach Landis, who smiled at her again.

"They're ready for you, Buffy," Coach Landis said.

Buffy stood up with her helmet in her hand. One could almost hear theme music following her as she made her way to the boy's locker room across the hall.

"You know what you're going to say?" Landis asked.

Buffy firmly nodded her head.

She entered the boy's locker room. The group parted before her when she made her way towards the blackboard. Each player gave her a raised helmet or a thumbs up. Even Larry grunted an acknowledgement. She stopped next to the coaches and turned, looking at the expectant faces of her teammates. "How was the trip?" she asked with a smile.

She got the laugher she'd hoped for, along with some comments about the unfairness of the school council.

She went on after the laughter died down, "I know this is a big night for a lot of us. First road game for the new players like me, a chance at some long overdue payback for the rest of you." she was greeted by a chorus of confirmations. "Now, this may be a weaker team than the Bulldogs—" She paused while another wave of laughter and remembrance passed over the team. "But!" she called out, quieting the group so she could continue. "But, we mustn't get sidetracked! We have to play hard! Play fast! And most important of all, play to win!" she exclaimed, marking each point by pumping her helmet forward.

"I want you to hit them harder than we hit the Bulldogs. I want you to run faster, tackle fiercer, fight for every ball, and play with fire on every possession!" She paused and looked around at the boys that were counting on her. "Because this isn't about winning or losing, this is about pride. Our own pride, the pride of this team, and the pride of our school. We thought we'd lost it years ago." She looked around with fire burning in her eyes, most of the team on their feet by now. "We took the first step in the last game, now we go a step further. We play this like it's our last game. We play until the other team can't stand or throw, block or run. We're going to dominate them on every front and we're going to win!" She shouted thrusting her helmet into the air, "Because, what are we?"

"War pigs!" the team roared in response.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, pumping her helmet into the air again.

"Dominate!" the team roared back.

At that, Buffy shook her hair loose and firmly put on her helmet under the roaring approval of the team. "Then let's go and crush them into the turf!" she shouted.

The team followed her out of the locker room and onto the field, leaving a stunned Coach Jameson and a madly grinning Coach Landis behind.

"Girl's got spunk," Coach Landis commented as the coaches headed after them.

"That she does," Coach Jameson muttered as he watched the team rush out the tunnel toward the light and the roar of the crowd.

The team burst out of the tunnel and onto the green field of battle. The cheerleaders cheered, the mascots hammed it up, and the home crowd shrank back at the fire that seemed to radiate off the Razorbacks. This team was here to win and not even the quarterback's blonde locks could distract the crowd from feeling their impending doom.

In the stands, a man taping the game zoomed in on her and started filming the game with great enthusiasm. Bob was a camera man at the local TV-station who had come to watch his little girl cheer for the Toros. 'Now, this is newsworthy,' he thought and he checked his bag for extra tape.

**Chapter Nine: Waiting for the Goal**

The 'Backs rushed out of the tunnel to the roar of the crowd and the chants of the cheerleaders. Xander, standing at the end of the tunnel, gave a quick, "Give 'em hell, Buffster," to the quarterback as she ran past.

Buffy flashed him a quick smile as she led her team onto the green field of glory.

He patted each of the players on the back and gave them thumbs up as they passed.

It took all his considerable willpower not to either melt into the ground or soil his costume as he watched Buffy stretch before the game. Some in the crowd were more obvious. A series of catcalls came from the boys in the stands commenting heavily about Buffy's butt. It made Xander's blood boil.

"Easy there, tiger," Coach Landis said and placed a hand on Xander's shoulder.

"Sorry, ma'am. It just gets me a bit worked up," he said to the woman who was smiling at him with that knowing little smile he'd seen her give Buffy from time to time.

Yes, Xander took notice of almost everything around him. He also knew that Buffy was mad for Willow and that Willow got all tingly around Buffy. As strange as his best friend having a girlfriend was, he still wanted to defend her honor.

"Things like that sometimes take care of themselves," another voice said.

Xander looked to his side to see Coach Jameson standing there with his clipboard and his serene face on.

"Look," he said, gesturing with his clipboard.

Xander looked and what he saw made him smile. The boys that had been calling out at Buffy were being rather unceremoniously dragged back down into their seats by their girlfriends and seatmates and were being very firmly scolded.

"Some battles you don't need to fight," Coach Jameson said and patted his shoulder. "Now why don't you go tease their mascot," he offered with a sly wink.

Xander gave him a salute before running off to give the Toros' mascot the mother of all wedgies.

Charlie had been calling the Toros' games, and most other games in the area, for almost thirty years. He was a rather laid back man by nature and felt very at home in the booth. He was flipping through the players list for the game when he heard the crowd gasp. When he lazily looked up from the list, his eyes bulged and he fumbled for his binoculars, knocking over his coffee. A girl was playing for the 'Backs. He hurriedly flipped through the listing, then grabbed the microphone like it was a lifeline.

"Now entering the field: the Sunnydale High Razorbacks. Led by their new starting quarterback, Buffy Summers, a junior," he said into the microphone. He flipped through the listings again, "This is the first time that a girl has taken the field as a player at this school. This is Summers' second game and in her first game she..." He paused and reread the stats again. "In her first game, she completed 20 out of 31 passes for 200 yards. An incredible first showing from the Razorback's new starting quarterback. Boy, the Toros' are in for a rough game indeed as Buffy 'Supergirl' Summers and the Sunnydale War Pigs take the field," he announced with a grin. "Now, let's give it up for the five time national cheerleading champions: the Toros' Cheerleading Squad," he announced to the crowd, who erupted into wild cheers. He leaned back and sipped his coffee, thinking, 'This isn't so bad. Maybe this means my little girl could one day grow up to play too.'

Willow was totally focused on Buffy as the quarterback took the field. The routines didn't require that much brainpower, plus she had plenty to spare after all.

When the announcer called out that Buffy had taken the field, the Razorbacks' cheerleaders performed their new routine. "She's fast, she's strong, she can do no wrong!" the 'Backs' cheerleaders called out in a routine that ended with Willow in a split, her arms raised above her head.

'I can do splits!' she thought with a smile. 'This cheerleading thing is paying off.' She jumped up and cheered when Buffy won the coin toss. "Go, Buffy!" Willow called out, then blushed when Buffy turned her head and threw her a beaming smile. 'Buffy sure is pretty, despite all that padding,' she thought and tried to hide her blush.

She looked away, hoping not to be seen staring at Buffy, then realized that she'd attracted the attention of one of the Toros' cheerleaders. The girl was a busty brunette and something about her made a part of Willow's brain tingle. The girl gave her a big smile and a wave, playfully pinched the blonde cheerleader standing next to her on the butt, and then pointed at Willow while whispering something. Both girls then smiled and waved at Willow before returning to their own routines.

'They couldn't be, no..." Willow thought, but then she was swept up in the next routine and the moment was all but forgotten.

While Willow cheered and kept one eye on the game—well, on Buffy at least—the 'Backs were really hammering the Toros. With Buffy leading like a general, the offense plowed past everything that the Toros could throw at them.

The Twins threw defenders aside like chickens and tipped the defensive ends like napping cows. Harry and Wild Bill ran like the North and South winds. In center of it all, and at the center of Willow's world, stood Buffy.

The Quarterback stood like the Rock of Gibraltar, dominating the green field. She appeared taller than her five foot two frame and carried her blonde hair with her like a halo as she moved. She effortlessly hurled the ball with precision into waiting hands, dodged defenders, and shouted for more pressure and harder play.

Still, after each play, she'd glance to the sidelines and each and every time her eyes would find Willow's.

Every time, the cheerleader's heart would jump and her stomach would flutter. 'God, what's happening to me?' Willow thought.

The referee blew the half-time whistle and the crowd cheered as the cheerleaders for the Toros took the field for the half-time show.

Willow had to smile at the fact that the Toros' fans could still cheer, since the numbers on the scoreboard were enough to make grown men cry—and some were.

At half-time, the Razorbacks were ahead, 28 to 7, and the ballgame was fast becoming an execution; the lead hit man being Buffy "Supergirl" Summers.

Bob the cameraman wiped the sweat off his brow as he used the half-time break to change tapes in the camera. He used the new tape to take some shots of his daughter. This had long ago stopped being a novelty story for the 11 o'clock news and had turned into something that could go national. And he had it all on tape.

"That girl can throw," the football mom sitting next to him commented.

Bob continued to film his little girl cheer with one hand and dialed his cell-phone with the other.

"But she's looks so small out there," another mom commented. "She could get hurt."

"Lady, that girl is made of steel. Did you see that hit she took earlier? Didn't even faze her," a very excited young man said.

Bob smiled when the station's secretary picked up the phone. "Yeah, Marlene? Get me John from sports. Tell him I've got something for him," he said and zoomed in on his daughter. "Yeah, Johnny? You won't believe what I'm seeing at my daughter's football game," he said and then frowned. "No, not that, you pervert. There's a girl playing for the visiting team. She just threw a hundred and twenty yards. Before half-time!" he exclaimed into the phone. He smiled as he heard the sports anchor drop his phone. "Of course I'm taping it!" he answered. "Tonight's show. I'll have it in by then. Okay, games starting, talk later," he said. He hung up just as the teams took the field and was shocked as the hometown crowd began cheering for the Girl of Steel. This had awards written all over it.

Just before the game resumed, Bob caught something else on film. Before taking the field, Buffy took the time to talk to one of the cheerleaders. Then it happened. Almost in slow-motion the cute redhead leaned in and gave the quarterback a kiss.

The word "Jackpot" echoed in Bob's brain.

The second half saw the continued rampage of the War Pigs as they ripped through the Toros with glee. The Toros' offense had better day than the battered defense, but not by much. Larry didn't give an inch and was every bit as commanding on defense as Buffy was on offense. While Larry hammered away, Buffy walked up and down the 'Backs' bench and kept the fires burning among the offense.

"Now, that is a true sign of leadership right there, folks," Charlie announced as he watched Buffy.

She marched up and down the team's bench, encouraging each and every one there. Then she turned towards the field to urge the defense on. "Come on guys! Make those cows graze on that turf! Larry, you own that QB!" Buffy shouted to the defensive team.

"The 'Backs' defensive team is being led by Larry Blaisdell. With a combo of leaders like Summers and Blaisdell, the 'Backs could go far this season," he announced. "And down go the Toros," he said as an afterthought when Larry slammed the Toros' quarterback into the turf.

"The Razorbacks' offensive team returns to the field yet again. Led by that Napoleon of a quarterback: Buffy Summers," Charlie announced. "It's interesting to note that, although her height is listed as five foot two, I can find no mention of her weight," he commented with a chuckle. He was soundly booed by the cheerleaders on both sides for that one. "I apologize," he added, then turned his attention to the final moments of the carnage that had been billed as a match up between two of the worst teams in the division.

Buffy grabbed the ball, lined up her shot, sidestepped an incoming rushing tackle, and then hurled the ball like a rocket into the receiver's hands. Wild Bill ran like the wind for the final yards.

"Touchdown! And it's all over, folks!" he announced. The final seconds ticked away while the 'Backs lined up for the field goal. "The Razorbacks are the winners this day; led by the astounding Buffy Summers. There is no shame in this, they simply were the better team," he announced. The crowd gave Buffy a standing ovation. "And the crowd is on its feet. They really love this girl!"

Litni watched the 'Backs finish off the game and smiled when she saw Buffy running towards Willow. Her moms had high hopes for those two making it, she could tell, but her eyes were drawn to a different player. He was tall, his smile was roguish, and he made her feel all goofy and strange.

"William," she called out, then blushed when Wild Bill looked and flashed that grin at her. "Great game!" she shouted and waved her pom-poms with a beaming smile and blushing cheeks. She froze when the boy came running over carrying his helmet in his hand and high five-ing those he passed.

"Litni, right?" he asked looking down at her petite frame.

"That's me," she answered and found herself staring up into his eyes while nervously fiddling with her pom-poms.

"Thank you," he said and smiled. "Coming from you that must mean I ran one hell of a game. Considering you know more about football than most of us guys," he explained with a wink and it made Litni blush even harder.

"Maybe," she said and looked down at her feet hard while shuffling them. 'Damn it! Stop being such a girly-girl and ask him out,' she thought to herself, but couldn't form the words for some reason. Being a teenager can suck like that sometimes.

"I was wondering..." Wild Bill started to fidget with his helmet.

Litni looked up with wide blue eyes. "Yes!" she said a bit too loudly.

"There's sure to be a party when we get back home," he said. "Would you like to—"

He got no further because the celebrating team caught up with the pair, totally ruining their moment as large crowds often do.

"Would you like to come with me?" Wild Bill called out as he was being dragged off by the offensive line.

"I'd love to!" Litni called back almost laughing with joy. She, too, was swept up in the loud and celebrating group.

"Great!" Wild Bill shouted back, flashing a smile that caused Litni to blush again—a bad habit, but a cute one—and she just smiled back at him.

Willow looked around in a daze as the Toros' crowd apparently cheered for Buffy. While the 'Backs crowded around the quarterback, Willow waited. She knew that Buffy would stop by her, 'And when she'd does, I'm going to—"

"You're lucky she likes you a lot," a voice commented.

Willow turned around and saw the cheerleaders that had been waving to her earlier. They were very lovingly holding hands and, from how they stood, it was pretty obvious that the pair were together.

"How..." Willow stammered.

The girls just smiled and raised their joined hands. "I'm Torrance," the blonde one said. "And this is my girlfriend..."

"Missy," the brunette said.

Again, Willow felt that strange tingle. "I'm Willow," she said, then looked at their hands again. "Wait. Did you two say you were..." Willow trailed off when the girls grinned and shared a small kiss.

"You've got a great quarterback," Torrance said and Missy gave Willow a knowing wink.

"But we don't—I mean—" Willow stammered, then she felt arms wrap around her.

"We won!" Buffy exclaimed and hugged her. "Oh, hi," she said to the two cheerleaders and then blushed a bit. "Sorry about kind of trashing your team," she apologized.

Willow giggled at Buffy for trying to be so nice about it.

"No biggie," Missy said, putting an arm around Torrance who leaned into her.

"They get trashed pretty often," Torrance added before being pushed aside by the Razorbacks. "Hope to see you at the nationals, Willow, and have fun in San Diego!" she called out as both Buffy and Willow were swept up by the Razorbacks' celebrations.

"Eep! Buffy, tell them to put me down," Willow squealed and reached out her hand for Buffy. Wild Bill and Harry had hoisted the cheerleader up and now carried her on their shoulders.

"Just enjoy it!" Buffy called back from her perch on top of the Twin's shoulders. She reached out and grabbed Willow's outstretched hand. "I'll catch you if you fall."

* * *

><p>Bob filmed the celebrations and ended it with a close-up of Buffy and Willow as the duo was carried into the tunnel by the celebrating Razorbacks. He hurriedly packed up his gear and collected his daughter. This had to be edited in time for the eleven o'clock news.<p>

Bob and Johnny, along with the rest of the sports staff of KGTV, were crowded around the monitor in the editing room. Some gasped and others cheered, but all were in agreement that this was great story for two reasons. First off, that girl could really play. This was no novelty story; that was a bona fide football player. She led the team and had their respect. Secondly, she apparently had a girlfriend on the cheerleading squad. That made it a girl power and a gay rights story all at once. This could go national, but right now they had to get it ready for the evening broadcast.

"Wow, that girl can throw," Johnny said. The group nodded and watched a slow motion replay of Buffy hurling the ball. "What did you say her nickname was again, Bob?" he asked the grinning camera man who had just brought him the sports story of the year.

"That, my friend, is Buffy 'Supergirl' Summers," Bob explained with a laugh. Then he brought up a still of the kiss. "And that's her girlfriend, Willow Rosenberg, a 4.0 honor roll student," he said pointing at the screen. When he got questioning looks about the depth of his knowledge, he just shrugged. "My daughter told me. They were all the talk after the game," he explained.

They finished editing the fade out sequence, ending on the cheerleader and the quarterback holdings hands while being carried off the field by their team.

**Chapter Ten: Welcome to the Hotel California**

Buffy lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling, cursing the fact that, due to math and morals, she was stuck in a singles room. Not that it was a bad thing, but some company would have been fun right about now.

"The celebrations were fun," she said to herself and rolled onto her stomach. The team had gone out for pizza—well, taken over a pizza place was more like it—and then gone dancing. They partied until Coach Landis had herded them back to the hotel and dutifully separated them by gender.

"Having Willow on my lap was nice." Buffy reminisced about getting to hold Willow on her lap due to a shortage of chairs. Then she giggled at the memory of Willow eating pizza with extra cheese that stretched out, ending with her biting it apart for Willow.

That pizza place trip was also the reason Buffy was now talking to herself and being generally giddy. Pouring a high-caffeine drink into a slayer on a post-game adrenaline high can do that.

"Yep, having Willow is pretty nice," she said with a satisfied smile while she scratched her tummy.

Just then, the door clicked. Buffy was instantly on her feet and ready to pounce on the intruder. She waited until the door closed and then she jumped, landing atop something very soft and feminine.

"Rough much, are we?" Cordelia asked from underneath Buffy, then giggled.

"Cordy? What are you doing here!" Buffy exclaimed as she stood up, hauling Cordelia up from the floor with her.

"Thought you might like some company," Cordelia said and leaned up against Buffy very suggestively.

"Cordy, we talked about—"

Buffy was cut off by Cordelia's lips as the cheerleader kissed her firmly. Using the fact that Buffy was taken aback by the suddenness of it all, Cordelia pushed the quarterback onto the bed and kissed her again.

"Cordy, stop it!" Buffy growled and pushed Cordelia off her, sending Cordelia to the floor. "Why do you keep doing that?" she demanded standing over the sprawled out cheerleader.

"'Cause I want you!" Cordelia shouted. "If Willow can have you then why can't I have you?" she asked.

Buffy sighed while rubbing her face. "Cordy," she said and kneeled down next to her. "It's not about Willow having me, it's about me loving her." she explained. "I love her, that's why I can't do this with you." "But Willow doesn't even know you like her like that," Cordelia countered standing up and dusting herself off.

"Cordy, do you like-like girls?" Buffy asked with a firm resolve face borrowed from Willow. "And I mean any girls, not just quarterback girls?" she asked.

"I...I don't know," Cordelia admitted, looking down at her feet.

"Why did you come here, really?" Buffy asked sitting down on the bed and patting next to her.

Cordelia took the offered seat guiltily. "I wanted to be your girlfriend. Wanted to have you look at me, like you look at Willow," Cordelia said. She looked down and played with the hem of her skirt. "I wanted to find out for sure if I liked girls like you do," she explained with a little sob.

"Cordy, Cordy," Buffy said as she tried to think up something to say. "Throwing yourself at somebody...didn't we already talk about this?" she asked with a sigh.

"I know," Cordelia said with a blush. "I'm just not used to it, that's all. Not getting the guy—well, girl," she explained. "I can be a bit single-minded that way," she added.

"Cordy, why don't you go back to your room? This will all look very silly in the morning, so let's not add to it, okay?" Buffy offered and Cordelia nodded her head and stood. Buffy escorted Cordelia out of the room and, with a curt, "Goodnight," closed the door behind her.

Once Cordelia was in the hallway, she pounded on the wall and cursed. The confused and upset routine had failed to work; she was going to have to try something different. Then she heard the sound of a door opening. Turning, she saw Jennifer peeking out.

"Spurned again?" Jennifer asked with a grin.

Cordelia suppressed the urge to punch the senior's lights out. "None of your business," Cordelia snapped back at the redheaded senior.

Jennifer just smiled. "Why don't you come in and we can talk," she offered and held open the door to her room. "The other girls all snuck out and I could use the company," she explained at Cordelia's dubious look.

"Sure, why not?" Cordelia groused. "Beats punching the walls in frustration I guess," she added while entering the room.

Once in the room, Cordelia was guided to a bed and they sat down. Suddenly all sorts of bells started going off inside Cordelia's brain and a plan formed. "Jennifer, are you like Buffy?" she asked in her most honest and innocent voice.

The senior blushed a bit. "Do I play football? No," she answered with a giggle as Cordelia moved closer to her. "Cordy, this isn't why I—" Jennifer started, but was cut off by Cordelia stroking her arm.

"Isn't it?" Cordelia asked and pushed her down onto the bed. "I didn't complain when you smacked my butt on the bus," she went on as Jennifer blushed.

"That's just teasing and admiring," she countered. "You're a straight arrow, C!"

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Cordelia said with a huff.

"'Cause you are," Jennifer said and sat up again. "Your Sapphic longings are pretty much tied to your social ambitions," she went on. Further arguments were cut off when Cordelia kissed her quite tenderly and, for a moment, reason seemed to flee from her mind. Against her better judgment, she returned the kiss with equal fervor. Not that Jennifer was a saint or anything, but she didn't like to be played. Still, if Cordelia wanted to try playing for the other team, she was game. It beat watching TV, at least.

Cordelia smiled to herself as Jennifer pulled her down onto the bed and kissed her while caressing her body. But in the back of her mind, the voice of her conscience nagged at her. It asked her if she was doing this out of any longing at all, or just out of spite towards Buffy and Willow.

* * *

><p>While Cordelia and Jennifer explored their sexuality, Willow was on a mission. That mission called for her to leave her room unseen, make her way past any obstacles without being noticed, gain entry into Buffy's room, and find a solution to the 'Buffy-Problem' that had been bugging her lately. Namely, where they were now and where they were going with their friendshiprelationship.

The first part was easy: the girls she shared her room with were all sound asleep and not going anywhere, so she put a hotel bathrobe on over her pajamas, slipped into some comfy slippers, and snuck out of the room. 'Objective one completed,' she though to herself as the door clicked shut behind her.

Then she snuck down the hallway towards Buffy's room, her fluffy slippers making no sound as they touched the floor. A group of girls said quiet hellos to her as she passed them; they were very obviously sneaking back from the 'boy's-floor.' One girl even gave her thumbs up for good luck. 'That was easy,' Willow thought.

She walked silently through the dimly lit halls until she came to Buffy's room. 'Room 269, this is it,' Willow thought and raised her hand to knock.

Not knowing that she'd just missed Cordelia by mere minutes, she wasn't ready for the door being flung open and a very angry Buffy bearing down on her.

"Cordy, for the last time—" Buffy exclaimed before seeing who it was.

"Eep!" Willow squeaked, shrinking and blushing under Buffy's glare.

Buffy's expression turned on a dime: from very pissed off slayer, to pleasantly surprised, and then to a very loving look that made Willow's legs feel like Jell-O. Then, with her slayer hearing, Buffy picked up the sound of approaching feet. She quickly grabbed the stunned cheerleader, pulled her into the room, and closed the door just as the footsteps entered the hallway.

"Buffy?" Willow whispered while Buffy pressed them against the door. With her ear firmly against the door, her cheek was just touching Willow's.

"Shh!" Buffy strained to hear if anybody was still lingering out there, looking to catch them in the act or something.

Willow sighed at the paranoid and overprotective slayer and lazily wrapped her hands around Buffy's slim waist. "How many Jolt Colas did you have?" she whispered into Buffy's ear.

"Uh?" Buffy asked, pulling her ear away from the door and looking into Willow's mischievously twinkling green eyes.

"I'll take a wild guess and say a lot," Willow said and slid from underneath Buffy.

"Oh, no. It's just...well...you see, Cordy...and Coach Landis and..." Buffy started to babble, then threw up her hands and looked at Willow again. "Wait. What are you doing here?" she asked.

Willow rewarded her with a punch on the shoulder. "I came to see you, dummy," Willow explained to the obviously scatter-brained quarterback.

"Oh, cool!" Buffy chirped with a goofy little smile. She took Willow and practically carried her into the room.

"So, Cordelia being a pain again?" Willow asked while sitting down at the foot of the bed and crossing her legs.

"Yeah," Buffy said, scratching the back of her head. "I kind of had to rebuff her a bit firmly earlier," she explained.

"Cordy: Rebuffed by Buff," Willow giggled and hid her smile with her hand.

"Wills," Buffy said and then paused. "Willow," she said sitting down next to the giggling cheerleader and taking her hand.

Willow stopped giggling instantly.

"I told her," Buffy stopped, her mouth suddenly dry, and she swallowed her fear. "I told her that I couldn't do anything with her," she paused again as Willow's eyes were desperately searching hers. "That I couldn't do anything, because of you," she managed to get out in a trembling voice and then she was lost in Willow's eyes.

"Buffy I—" Willow started and squeezed Buffy's hand. "I—" she stammered again, then she just gave up on words and hugged her friend with all strength. "Buffy, I'm scared," she whispered. Buffy hugged her back. "Me too, Wills, me too," Buffy whispered back while stroking Willow's red locks.

"I'm happy too," Willow whispered with a smile and kissed Buffy on the cheek. "Happy that you would do that for me, that you'd be so strong for me, that you'd—"

Buffy hushed her with a finger and then kissed her gently on the lips. "Willow, you're my only one," Buffy said with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She held Willow so she could look into her eyes and was lost in them again.

Willow looked at Buffy for what seemed like the longest time: her smile and her twinkling blue eyes. Then, as if possessed by some mischievous spirit, she lunged at Buffy, giving her a firm kiss on the lips. Buffy's arms wrapped around her and pulled her close so their kiss lingered on.

Buffy and Willow tenderly kissed on Buffy's bed, holding each other while sitting on the edge of the bed. While in another room, there was a very similar, yet vastly different scene taking place.

With Cordelia and Jennifer, things were much more hurried and rushed. Sure, there was some tenderness, but there hung in the room a sense of an urgent fever to feel and to touch.

Cordelia started pulling off her top, but stopped halfway, as if interrupted by a sudden pang of guilt. 'What am I doing?' she thought. She looked over at Jennifer: already down to her bra and panties, running her hands over her body, watching her with smoldering eyes.

"Come on now, C, you've seen mine,' Jennifer teased at the straight girl's insecurity.

'I'll show her.' Cordelia pulled off her top and threw it, knocking over the lamp on the nightstand. "You want?" Cordelia asked, running her hands over her body.

Jennifer crawled across the bed, grinning at the head-cheerleader. "I think the question is," she said, taking Cordelia's hands and placing them on her body, "do you want?"

'She's being so sweet,' Cordelia thought while letting her hands roam across Jennifer's body. 'God, I can't do this to her,' she thought as Jennifer moved closer and gave her a deep kiss.

"You're overdressed, C," Jennifer purred.

Cordelia froze when she felt Jennifer unclasping her bra.

"I can stop," the older girl said in a gentle voice, sensing Cordelia's discomfort.

'She's so nice, I can't do this,' Cordelia thought, then she steeled herself, 'No. I want this, I need this.' She reached around to undo Jennifer's bra. "Well, you're overdressed too," she purred back. She yanked the girl's bra off and tossed it aside before leaning in and kissing her firmly. She let her hands roam over Jennifer's soft curves that were so different from the hardness of the boys she'd dated. 'This is kind of hot,' Cordelia thought when Jennifer pushed her down onto the bed. 'Wait, what am I thinking? This is a girl—oh, that's nice, though,' Cordelia's mind raced. 'Girls are good too, almost as good as boys.' Then she felt Jennifer's mouth on her skin and her mind took a hike as her reptilian brain took over.

In the end, discarded pieces of clothing littered the room and a lamp, lying hazardously on its side on the nightstand, provided a dim light on the two girls rolling around half hidden underneath the covers.

* * *

><p>Buffy was gently stroking Willow's flaming red hair and gently talking to her while the redhead lazily hugged her as they lay together on the bed. "You're the prettiest girl in school, you know?" Buffy smiled when Willow looked up at her with wide green eyes.<p>

"I am?" Willow asked in a shocked voice. "But you and Cordy and—" she started to babble out a list of girls.

"No, you are," Buffy said firmly. "You are beautiful; it's an effortless beauty," she explained and the giggled. "Look what you do to me, I'm getting all eloquent," she said.

Willow couldn't help but to smile. "Giles would be so proud of you," she said with a smile and kissed her again.

"Ouch!" Buffy exclaimed.

The look Willow gave her was priceless: a highly raised eyebrow and a mix of her concerned and resolve faces all in one. "Ouch?" Willow asked. "Get kissed by a pretty girl and you say, 'ouch'?" she giggled.

Buffy fished for something behind her back and then pulled out the TV-remote. "Ouch," she explained and held up the remote for Willow to see.

"Oh, ouch," Willow nodded, her face softening instantly and a light bulb went on in her cute little head.

"Ouch," Buffy agreed with a smile and kissed Willow again, somehow managing to turn the television set on full blast.

"Ouch," Willow said with a giggle and covered her ears while Buffy fumbled with the remote to find the mute button.

* * *

><p>In the other room, in the dim light, there were no eloquent words and no longing looks that spoke of love and friendship. There was just the moment and the feeling. Cordelia felt herself pressed against the mattress while Jennifer's hands roamed her body, unclothed and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.<p>

"Oh my," Cordelia exclaimed, her hands finding Jennifer's hair and immersing themselves in its silken strands.

"You like it, C?" Jennifer asked with a flirtatious laugh and Cordelia groaned in response.

"Stop...teasing," Cordelia answered in a breathy voice.

"Very well," Jennifer said with a laugh and disappeared under the covers. Moments later Cordelia's eyes went as wide as saucers and she let go an almighty shout of, "Oh my god!" before thrashing about on the bed and holding on to the headboard.

Jennifer crawled up Cordelia's body to kiss her lips again, creating all sorts of emotions within Cordelia, 'Hmm, soft, tastes nice,' Cordelia thought while running her hands through Jennifer's hair. 'So much softer than Xander,' she thought while running her hands over the curve of Jennifer's hips. 'Different lines too,' she thought while Jennifer pressed herself against her.

"Cordelia, you there?" Jennifer said with a giggle and ran her hand down Cordelia's side.

"Hmm," Cordelia moaned and arched against Jennifer's hand. 'Her touch is so much softer than Devon's,' Cordelia thought, feeling Jennifer's soft fingers run over her skin blazing a trail of warmth and heat across her flushed skin.

"You sure you're not totally into girls," Jennifer giggled, kissing Cordelia again, the kind of kiss that just drags on and takes one away.

'Oh, my god!' Cordelia thought. 'Kevin never kissed like that or...' her train of thought trailed off when she felt Jennifer's hands move again and she gasped into the kiss. Then Jennifer released her lips and Cordelia's voice could be heard loud and clear as she proclaimed her feelings and opinions about the wonders of Jennifer's fingers.

Buffy's ears twitched. She stopped her gentle kisses and sat up on the bed.

A very concerned Willow rose up next to her. "Buffy, you alright?" she asked while the slayer looked around. 'She's making the "slayer face"' Willow thought while looking intently at the worried slayer. Willow knew every little facet of Buffy's face by now, having spent untold hours watching her.

"I thought I heard..." Buffy listened a bit closer, but it was gone. "Never mind, it's gone now," she said, then her eyes fell on the TV and she lunged for the remote.

"This footage was taken at a local high school football game earlier today. Keep your eyes on the Quarterback in the red and yes, that's her own hair," the announcer said.

Willow and Buffy stared dumbfounded at the TV-screen.

"That's right, folks! That's Buffy 'Supergirl' Summers; the starting quarterback for Sunnydale High's Razorbacks. In their complete rout of our local Toros, she completed an amazing 28 out of 30 passes for 250 yards, leading her team both on and off the field." Footage of Buffy cheering the defensive team on was shown. "And, to finish it off, she gave her girlfriend—an Honor Roll student as well as a cheerleader—a kiss after the game."

Buffy and Willow watched as they kissed on the screen in slow motion.

'Oh, I remember that,' Willow thought and touched her lips. "Turn it off," she said, dreamily rubbing Buffy's arm.

Buffy reached out with the remote and the screen went blank. "Thank God this is only the local channel," Buffy said in a stunned voice.

Willow looked at her with a puzzled look.

"Can you imagine my mom seeing that?" Buffy asked.

Understanding dawned on Willow's face. "We could just stay here," she offered with a sincere smile and hugged Buffy reassuringly. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's not like it's on ESPN. And plus, your mom doesn't even watch that," she said.

Buffy smiled at her. "Thanks, Wills. Yeah, how bad could it be?" Buffy said and pulled Willow back down on the bed. "Kiss-age?" she asked.

Willow gave her a loving smile and promptly awarded her quarterback her kiss-age.

Cordelia lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling while Jennifer had drifted off to sleep, snuggled close to her in the aftermath of their hurried and frantic session. Although Cordelia looked calm and satisfied with her hair splayed wildly over the pillows, her mind was in turmoil. 'What have I done?' Cordelia thought to herself and looked over at Jennifer's serene face. 'Xander! I totally betrayed him,' she thought. 'And for what? Some mad scheme to get with Buffy, for what? ' she asked herself.

'Social standing,' her conscience answered her.

She gently slipped out of the bed and went about gathering her clothes. She hurriedly put them on before slipping out the door with one last look at Jennifer's sleeping form. Just as she closed the door and turned around, she heard two words that would be etched in her memory for a long time to come.

"You slut," Litni Speed said with so much frost in her voice that you could almost see her breath. The petite junior cheerleader appeared to have grown taller in her anger and her eyes shone with the same fire her mother displayed on the sidelines. And all that compact fury was focused on Cordelia.

Cordelia Chase was many things: a cheerleader, the leader of the pack, the sure win for the homecoming queen title, the Queen Bitch of Sunnydale High. Yet now she stood almost frozen. She'd hoped to sneak out of the room, but was now face to face with a very pissed off Litni. She felt very afraid of the junior cheerleader.

"Jealous, Litni?" Cordelia asked, falling back on being a bitch when faced with a new situation.

She was rewarded with a sound slap across the cheek. Buffy wasn't the only person with a strong arm, Cordelia found out, when the petite cheerleader grabbed her by the arm. "Come with me," Litni spat out and dragged Cordelia towards her room. "Everybody out!" she shouted.

Her roommates quickly fled the room for safer places and, after the last girl had rushed past them, Litni slammed the door and turned to face the head-cheerleader.

"You were saying?" Cordelia asked, hands on her hips and every bit the defiant bitch.

"Sit down!" Litni ordered, borrowing her mother's coaching voice while pointing at one of the beds.

"Or would you like me on my back?" Cordelia asked stretching her arms above her head.

"Sit down or I'm walking out that door and making two stops: First one at my mom's room and the second at Xander's. And yes, I know about Xander. I'm not as blind as your followers," Litni said. The girls engaged in a staring contest that ended with Cordelia sitting down on the bed with a frown. "And you're one to talk. At least I'm not the latest notch on Jennifer's belt," Litni spat.

Cordelia's face started to fall. 'Xander, Jennifer, Xander, what was I thinking?' she thought to herself while Litni's blue eyes drilled tiny holes into her head.

"You thought you were so smart," Litni went on while Cordelia absorbed the events of the past few hours. "'Buffy's not playing along? Let's try Jennifer.' Well, news flash, Chase," Litni exclaimed. "Buffy loves Willow and one floor down from here there's a boy that cares for you very much. Way more than you deserve right now, I might add," Litni raged on. She could hear the squad-leader sobbing now. "Oh, spare me the water works," she said in a disgusted tone of voice.

"I just wanted—" Cordelia tried to answer.

Litni stood her ground. She was determined to get the point across, no matter what kind of two-by-four she had to use. "You just wanted, what? To try it with a girl? Well, that's over and done with," Litni lectured. "So tell me, Chase, what did you figure out? Did it give you any insight into how to get Buffy? Did you learn something about yourself?" She drove the final nail into Cordelia's coffin, "Was it good?"

"I-I—" Cordelia stammered.

"You what, Chase?" Litni asked kneeling down next to the cheerleader. "You learned what, Chase?" she asked, a bit more gently but still keeping an edge to her voice.

"It was just...with Jennifer, it was...you know, but..." Cordelia tried to form her thoughts into words, but they just turned into a lengthy sobs.

"It wasn't the same as when you kiss Xander was it? It was just the 'thing', just the sweating and petting," Litni said what Cordelia couldn't put into words.

"Sweating and petting?" Cordelia asked with a small laugh while wiping away her tears. "That's a new name for it."

"My mom used it when she thought I wasn't listening," Litni explained. "So, you any wiser now? After you little Sapphic sojourn, I mean?" she asked.

"I think so," Cordelia answered honestly. "I know it's a part of me now, but..." she trailed off.

"But?" Litni asked.

"I was wrong in trying to steal Buffy like that and I think I should go back and talk to Jennifer," she said.

Litni placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "There's hope for you yet, Chase," she said in her best coach-voice. "There's hope for you yet," she repeated and Cordelia smiled at the young cheerleader who somehow seemed so much wiser than her years.

"Litni?" Cordelia said before she left the room and looked at the younger girl with a little-girl-lost look on her face.

"Yes, Cordelia?" Litni replied giving the head-cheerleader a comforting look.

"Thank you for being honest with me. Very few people are and...well, thank you," Cordelia said.

Litni smiled at her. "That's my job," she said. "Now go talk to Jenny and remember Xander."

Cordelia gave a firm nod before leaving the room.

'Way to go, Speed,' Litni thought to herself. 'Dishing out advice while you stammer and drool over the person you want the most and lose fifty IQ-points at the sight of him.'

She shook her head before opening the door. She called out to her friends that were lingering nearby. "Storm's over, guys. You can come back in," she shouted with a smile and was mobbed by three very gossip-eager cheerleaders. Before she shut the door, she spotted Cordelia knocking on Jennifer's door.

Willow snuggled closer to the sleeping Buffy while glancing at the clock's green numbers. It was almost time to return to her own room so she'd be there when Coach Landis made the wake-up rounds.

"Buffy, wake-up, I have to go," Willow said, gently shaking Buffy's shoulder.

The slayer muttered something about 'soft Willow' and pulled her closer. "Don't go," Buffy said sleepily, her eyes opening just a slit.

"I have to, but we can have a sleepover when we get home. You can hold me all you want," Willow said.

Buffy smiled a lazy smile at her. "I want to hold you always," Buffy said honestly.

Willow started to feel gooey again. "That would be a bit of a problem, but a very nice problem," Willow answered and kissed Buffy. "But a bigger problem will be Coach Landis finding me here. She's nice and all, but this is a major no-no," she explained.

Buffy reluctantly started to untangle herself from the, indeed, very soft Willow. "Spoil sport. Smart and cute, but a spoil sport," she admitted with a grin.

Willow got out of bed and readjusted her pajamas. "I'll save you a seat on the bus," Willow said, bending down to give Buffy a goodnight kiss. "We can snuggle all the way home," she added and then gave Buffy a final lingering good-bye kiss.

Buffy really wanted to say it, but again, couldn't find the words, so she watched Willow leave the room.

The redhead blew her a final goodnight kiss, framed by the light pouring in from the hallway.

Then, just after the door clicked shut, she said it. "I love you." Then the Sandman's spell swept over her and she dreamt of white picket fences and a little girl with mismatched eyes.

Willow stumbled back to her room in a haze with a silly smile on her face. The 'Buffy-Problem' was still a problem, but it was a very nice problem.

'She's my friend, but we're also very girlfriendy,' she thought as she touched her lips.

'Wait! Is Buffy my girlfriend? We had snuggles, kiss-age, touching,' she thought and giggled. Then looked around and threw her arms into the air. "Buffy is my girlfriend!" she shouted and then ran to her room, giggling.

Shortly afterwards, a head peeked out of a room and smiled. Coach Landis shook her head and slapped the back of her hand, chastising herself mentally. 'Bad chaperone, naughty chaperone,' she thought to herself with a giggle. She closed the door to her room, planning on collecting on a bet with her wife.

The next day, a very tired group lined up for the buses. They were ready to get on board with no protests over spilt genders or the general unfairness of life; most just wanted to head back home and hopefully be ready to wake up for school on Monday. Several things were noteworthy that morning, though. Things had gotten stranger, yet somehow clearer during the night spent at the hotel.

First, Willow Rosenberg was walking hand in hand with Buffy Summers. Nothing new there, but there was something very different about the way the redheaded cheerleader carried herself around the quarterback. There seemed to be a profound shift in her stance and the looks she kept stealing at the sleepy quarterback spoke volumes.

Second, Cordelia Chase seemed somehow softer as she spoke quietly with Jennifer, and then the two would steal occasional glances at the team mascot.

Finally, Litni Speed could be seen talking shyly to Wild Bill, shuffling her feet and giggling at his jokes.

Shaking her head, Coach Landis herded the sleep deprived teens aboard their respective buses. As Litni passed, she placed an arm around her daughter's shoulders and drew her aside for some mother-daughter talking about that tall boy with the roguish smile.

Willow snuggled close to the napping Buffy while the buses sped towards Sunnydale and home. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Cordelia smiling down at her.

"She's all yours now, Willow," Cordelia said. "And, I'm sorry," she added, then left to take her seat next to Jennifer.

'She's mine,' Willow thought with a smile and looked over at the sleeping quarterback.

Basking in the afterglow of victory, new friendships, and a stronger sense of team spirit and pride, the 'Backs sped towards home. Nobody fully knew what awaited them, but a phone conversation taking place at that very same moment—between the KGTV sports editor and his high school buddy at ESPN—would insure that, once the team returned home, they'd be in for some surprises to say the least. Along with their families and friends. So, once home, it would be time to face the music and dance for the team's most beloved player and her cheerleader. And they'd better dance fast and dance well and make damn sure it pleased the crowd.

**To be concluded...**


	4. Facing the Music

**Chapter Eleven: Time to Face the Music and Dance**

Willow looked out the window as the buses rumbled into Sunnydale, then down at Buffy who was snoring away on her shoulder. She looked to her left to see Cordelia stroking Jennifer's hair while the other girl slept; the head-cheerleader was being awfully nice to the girl, almost as if she was trying to make up for something.

Willow turned her eyes back to Buffy and smiled. 'My Buffy,' she thought and stroked Buffy's blonde hair. Then she looked out the window and saw her mother waiting in the school parking lot with the rest of the proud football and cheerleader parents. She pulled her hand away as if she'd been stung. 'Oh my...Mom...Dad...,' Willow thought in a panic. When she felt Buffy snuggle closer, she went stiff.

The sudden tension in her pillow woke Buffy. "Wills, you okay?" She looked up at her girlfriend with sleepy blue eyes.

"Parental units. Outside. Must stop." Willow choked out in a tense whisper.

Buffy looked out the window and her eyes went wide when she spotted her mother. She jumped away from Willow as if she was radioactive, then gave her a very apologetic look. "We have to tell them," she stated firmly.

Willow gave her best 'deer in the headlights' look and shook her head.

"Hey, you have it easy; your mom is cool with this," Buffy said and motioned between them. "But my mom... Mom..." Buffy sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Okay, here's the deal. We'll tell them when we're both ready, okay?" She took Willow's hand. "Together," she squeezed Willow's hand and gave Willow her bravest smile.

Willow nodded back and gave Buffy's hand a gentle squeeze before they broke apart.

When the bus stopped, the two returned to their families who were blissfully unaware of what had happened during the road trip. None would suspect that a phone call made to ESPN earlier that day would speed up Buffy and Willow's plans for their 'coming-out' party from 'soon' to just this side of 'right now.'

Willow could swear she heard the music of "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof.

Buffy's plan almost went off without a hitch; she was able to contain her excitement over the events of the past two days—well, those that didn't concern football—when she hugged her mother and sister. She chatted about the game on the way home and had a nice dinner with her family after a phone call from Giles. The problem began that evening when she was led into the living room of the Summers' home; it was decked out with snacks and there was a fresh video tape in the VCR. Memories of certain compromising footage came flooding back.

"Er...Mom...?" Buffy looked up at her beaming mother.

"An old friend of Ms. Speed tipped her off that a tape from your game yesterday would be on EPSN," Joyce explained. She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her. "You're going to be on TV, honey," she said with a beaming smile.

Buffy swallowed a big lump in her throat.

At that same moment, Willow was swallowing a very similar lump in her throat as Sheila called her into the TV-room at the Rosenberg household.

Yes, somebody was throwing a major monkey wrench into Buffy and Willow's carefully laid plans. Everyone else was just looking forward to seeing the hometown girl make it big and, boy, were they in for a shock.

Joyce Summers—proud football mom—had indeed gotten a phone call from Andrea Speed—proud cheerleader mom and coach wife—telling her to tune in to ESPN. Something big was happening concerning the football team and it was going to be on national television. Joyce glanced at her daughter, feeling so proud; although Buffy seemed a bit uncomfortable, but that was probably just all the attention.

"It's starting," Joyce exclaimed. She pressed the record button as the intro for the show ran. Then came the moment that most of the town with good cable was waiting for.

Buffy just wanted to sink into the crack between the cushions of the couch. The familiar footage—to Buffy at least, who was now sporting a very pale complexion—rolled on the screen.

At that moment, through either destiny or karma, both Willow and Buffy wished they were together and away from their parental units.

"This footage was filmed at a Rancho Carne High School football game by the camera man for KGTV, channel 10 in San Diego," Rich Eisen said as the video filled the screen.

"Now watch player number 9 and, no, you're not mistaken, that is a girl. Buffy "Supergirl" Summers, quarterback for the Sunnydale High School's Razorbacks. She completed an amazing 28 out of 30 passes for 250 yards."

"Wow, that girl can throw," Kenny Mayne commented as the screen showed Buffy hurling the pigskin straight into Harry's hands just as time ran out.

"Yes, and not only that, but she also seems to be taking the role of quarterback very seriously in every regard," Eisen chuckled.

Joyce grabbed her mouth when she saw Willow lean in and kiss Buffy on the lips—and she was pretty sure that Buffy was leaning into the kiss too.

"We'll be keeping an eye on this up and coming sensation, that's for sure!" Mayne quipped. The report ended with a shot of Buffy and Willow being carried into the tunnel holding hands. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it was déjà vu all over again for the Cheerleader and the Quarterback.

Joyce wordlessly reached out with the remote and turned off the recording. Switching remotes, she then turned off the TV before even looking at Buffy. She slowly turned to her daughter who was looking like a lost little puppy. "Buff...Buffy, is there something...I mean is there..." Joyce stammered. "Honey, is there something you need to tell me?" she finally managed to ask.

Buffy cleared her throat and looked her mom straight in the eye. "Mom, I—" she started.

The phone rang.

Joyce wordlessly reached out and picked it up. "Joyce? Joyce, you there?" her friend Diane practically yelled through the phone.

"Yes I'm here—" Joyce started, not taking her eyes off of Buffy.

"Did your daughter just get kissed on national television by Willow Rosenberg?" Diane pounced without hearing Joyce out.

Joyce fought back the urge to smash the phone into tiny little bits. "She's about to start explaining," she said tersely.

"Well, at least she's not telling you on Thanksgiving," her friend commented.

"I'll have to call you back later on that," Joyce said with a remarkably courteous tone, given the circumstances.

"Oh my god! She's right there, isn't she?" Diane exclaimed. "I'm so—call you back." She hurriedly hung up.

Joyce wordlessly returned the phone to its place. "You were saying?" she asked Buffy.

The Quarterback could hear the sound of tap-dancing in her head. 'So this is what it's like to face the music and dance,' she thought and gulped again. 'God, I hope Willow is having a better time with this than me.' She reached out, took her mother's hand, and opened her mouth to explain.

Just then, there was a loud squeal from upstairs and a shriek of, "Oh my god, my sister's gay!" was heard.

Buffy just buried her face in her hands. She seemed to be doing that a lot today, she noted to herself.

"Yes, Dawn, we know!" Joyce called back, then grabbed her mouth and blushed.

Buffy started to giggle at the farce her 'coming out' was turning into.

Then the phone rang again.

Mother and Daughter just sat there while the phone rang; both trying and failing to contain their laughter.

Then something in Buffy broke. She felt as if a stone was being lifted from her heart and soul and she threw her hands into the air. "I LOVE WILLOW!" Buffy shouted with a laugh over the ringing of the phone. "There I said it! I love her, she makes me happy, tingly, flighty, and all those nice things and she likes me in spite of everything!" she exclaimed. Then she looked somewhat worriedly at her mother, "Is that so bad?"

Joyce couldn't help but to smile at the sincerity in Buffy's voice. The phone kept ringing as mother and daughter just looked at each other. Then Joyce reached out and answered it, then smiled and handed it to Buffy. "It's for you."

Buffy took the phone with a raised eyebrow.

"It's your girlfriend," she explained and Buffy's face broke into a beaming smile.

"Eww, that's totally gross! But at least it's not a boy 'cause boys are yucky," Dawn chimed in from upstairs.

"Someday you might change your mind," Joyce called out, which was followed by the sound of stomping feet.

Little eleven-year-old Dawn burst into the living room, crossed her arms firmly over her chest and stomped her foot. "But boys are yucky!" she exclaimed loudly.

"You may think so now, but one day you'll wake up and you won't think boys are so yucky anymore," Joyce tried to assure to her youngest daughter.

Dawn just looked a bit green around the gills.

Buffy sighed, put her hand over the phone and piped in, "I never did."

In answer, she received a 'you don't count, missy' glare from her mother.

Buffy rolled her eyes skyward before asking Willow, "How'd it go on your end?"

At last she had come out and stated her sexuality and love for Willow to her family. But the tricky part still remained; telling that fact to the rest of the school, come Monday.

Also, to make things more complex, a pang of guilt was gnawing at her stomach. She'd been able to proclaim her love for Willow so easily just now; but still, whenever she tried to say those three little words in the presence of her favorite redheaded cheerleader, her brain did a spaz-out on her.

'We'll just have to fix that. This brain is now a spaz-free zone,' Buffy thought firmly. Then she took a deep breath before asking Willow something she'd wanted to ask for a long time.

* * *

><p>Willow sat and stared at the television, stunned for a moment. Then she looked over at her mother who appeared to be engrossed in what the reporter was saying about the state of the NFL. One might say that Willow was a little confused, though that would have been understating the very obvious. After all, she'd expected something—anything—out of her mother. Mostly, she feared something along the lines off: "You tsatskele! What do you think you're doing with that shiksa!" But instead, her mother was watching the sports ticker and humming to herself as though nothing of importance had happened.<p>

"Mom?" Willow asked her mother, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"Yes, dear?" Sheila asked without looking away from the screen.

"Don't you...you know...want to ask me something?" she asked blushing brightly.

"Oh, right," Sheila said, snapping her fingers. "Did you clean your room yet?"

Willow gave her mother a very dirty look. "Not that," she huffed, then she noticed that her mother was smiling at her.

"Willow, does she make you happy?" Sheila asked softly.

Willow gave her mother a stunned looked and then asked the only thing that came to mind. "What about Dad?"

"Oh, your father doesn't care for sports," Sheila explained off-handedly. "Am I 'freaking' you out dear?" she asked patting Willow on the shoulder.

"A bit," Willow squeaked out.

"Why don't you call her?" Sheila asked handing Willow the phone. "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about," she said.

Willow took the phone, then gave her mother a big hug. "Mame..." she whispered, "a sheynem dank." She hugged her mother tightly before pulling back and giving her a teary eyed smile.

"Filn zikh shtolts." Sheila answered as Willow started dialing.

After several rings, Joyce picked up. Willow stammered into the receiver, "Is...is Buffy there?" After a few, very fast heartbeats, a voice that made her heart skip spoke.

"Hi, Wills," Buffy said through the phone.

Willow giggled, then her brain went into warm-goo mode as her mother watched her with a smile.

"How'd it go on your end?" Buffy asked and Willow could hear Dawn's loud exclamations of the yuckiness of boys and girls and well...the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing in general in the background.

"Mom... Mom..." Willow stammered into the phone and then looked up at her mother and smiled. "Mom told me 'Filn zikh shtolts.'" she said and felt herself tear up.

"What's 'films ick shots' supposed to mean?" Buffy asked, confusion in her voice. In a horrified whisper, she asked, "She thought we were icky?"

Willow giggled, "No, Buffy. It's Yiddish." She took a deep breath as the tears threatened again. "She told me to be proud of myself."

"Wills, that's..." Buffy stammered on the other end with a sniffle of her own. "Wills, you should be. Everyday you make me so proud and so happy." Buffy, in rare babble-mode, gushed into the phone.

There was silence for a moment, then, after a hearty mutual sniffle, Willow's eyes twinkled a bit. "So...does this mean we can go out on a date-date now?" she asked hopefully and she could hear Buffy take a deep breath.

Then Buffy answered with, "Willow, would you go out with me after the game?"

That was how it came to pass that Buffy and Willow made their relationship known to their families—well, mostly, but Ira doesn't really count—however, the rest of the town remained to be told. Then there were the problems of a few other cheerleaders who had not returned from the road-trip with such a firm grasp of their emotions.

**Chapter Eleven and a Half: The Lost Chapter**

Buffy could almost feel the heat of the flashbulbs going off in the stands when she was carried from the field. Another victory for the Razorbacks with no end in sight for their winning streak. She felt proud of her team. They'd held up despite all the pressures she'd brought upon them and now their spot in the state finals was almost secure. So she allowed herself to worry about the upcoming date-date with Willow she was going on after the game.

"Guys, put me down," she said with a laugh.

The team promptly lowered her to the ground once they were inside the boys' locker-room.

"Good game, guys," she said and then looked them over and noticed a nasty cut above Larry's left eye. "Larry, have that looked at," she said.

The linebacker gave a reluctant affirmative grunt in reply.

"Wild Bill," she said and flipped the game ball to the running back.

"Cap', I can't. This is..." Will Bill said and looked down at the game ball.

"You need it more than me," Buffy said with a wink and the running back actually blushed.

"Cap', you not coming to the Bronze to celebrate?" Harry asked.

The Twins nodded in agreement; it wasn't a party without Buffy.

"I'm kind of..." Buffy started and then the cheerleaders glided past and she caught sight of Willow and her mouth went numb. "Busy," she finished with a slight slur to her voice.

"Ah, girlfriend duties. I can get into that," Wild Bill said sheepishly when Litni walked past and was rewarded with a smack to the back of the head by Buffy. "What?" he asked.

"Girlfriend duties?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow. "Never say it like it's a chore," she mock scolded the running back.

He gave laugh. "No, it's fun. Just unnerving and stressful sometimes," he explained.

"Well, boys," Buffy said and looked around the locker room. "I'd love to stay," she said.

A playful chorus of, "Please do!" filled the room.

"But I've got a date to get ready for, so wish me luck," she said.

Just when she was about to leave the locker room she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to come face to face with Larry who was looking a bit bewildered with a Band-Aid above his left eye.

"Cap'—" he started and then looked down at petite quarterback with a wistful smile. "Have fun okay," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice, turned and headed for his locker.

* * *

><p>Litni Speed sat and waited at the Espresso Pump. She wore a pink flower in her blonde hair and was busily chewing her lower lip wondering about what the hell she was doing here.<p>

'You're going on a date, silly,' her mind reminded her.

"Litni," somebody called out.

Litni looked up to see Buffy and Willow entering the Espresso Pump, waving to her. The couple was out on their first Date-Date as it had come to be known among those in the know. "Hi, guys," she said as the couple walked over to table she was sitting at.

"Waiting for WB?" Buffy asked the young cheerleader and Litni felt herself blush.

Willow gently smiled at her and Litni could see why Buffy so adored this girl. Just one look from the glowing redhead was enough to lift your spirits sometimes.

"Yeah, he's running late," Litni said and fiddled with her cup of cocoa.

"He's just as nervous as you are," Buffy assured the girl. "Trust me on that one. He put his shirt on backwards after the game," she added with a smirk. "Harry told me!" she then exclaimed when she was met by questioning looks about just how she'd gained that information.

"Speaking of shirts, I think our victim—I mean, running back—just walked through the door," Willow said and tugged at Buffy's sweater in a very strong in hint that they should vanish.

"Good luck, Litni," Buffy said and patted the girl on the back.

"Ignore everything the squad told you to do," Willow added and with that the happy couple vanished.

Litni nodded to Willow and then her attention shifted to Wild Bill, who was looking very good in a plain white shirt and black pants. 'Just Bill now I guess,' she thought to herself. 'OH, my god! He brought the game ball,' she thought and then looked up. "Hi," she said with a beaming smile. She had never seen it do that to anybody before, because she was sure she'd just fried Wild Bill's brain with it.

"Errr...hi," the usually smooth operator stammered and fiddled with the game ball. "Was...was that Cap'—I mean Buffy and Willow?" Wild Bill asked.

"Yeah. They were giving me one last chance to change sides. Even offered me a toaster-oven," Litni answered dead-pan and held a straight face just long enough to catch Wild Bill's confusion.

He broke into a big grin. "Why Miss Speed, I do believe you are toying with me," he said. Some of his mental reflexes returning after having been faced with the stunning beauty of Litni all dolled up.

"Maybe a little, but that look was priceless," Litni said and giggled. "Did Buffy give you that?" she asked pointing at the ball.

"Yeah, she said something about me needing it more than she did. Here," he said and handed her the ball. "You can have it," he offered and Litni's eyes grew as large as saucers.

"Really?" she said and took the ball with shaking hands. "This is the ball that got us into the state finals," she said with awe.

"Yeah, I know. Got some bruises from it myself," Bill said with that roguish grin. "You really want to play more than you want to cheer, don't you?" he asked with honest eyes and Litni blushed a bit.

"I want to, but I'm not dumb. I don't have Buffy's 'mystical' arm or her 'sixth-sense' for incoming line backers," Litni explained trying to hide her blush.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I wanted to cheer before I got pulled into running," Bill said.

Litni gave him a 'yeah-right' look.

"No, seriously! Thought it was a good way to get in with the girls," he answered honestly.

"And now?" Litni asked, absent mindedly twirling the game ball in her hands.

"Now I just want to run. Girls are no longer such a big distraction," Bill explained and Litni felt a bit gooey.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Let's just call it a narrow field," Wild Bill said and leaned over the table and then was rudely interrupted by the waitress just when Litni was leaning in towards him with a very satisfied smirk on her lips.

"You love-birds ready to order yet?" the waitress asked.

The two broke apart flushing.

* * *

><p>Their drifting walk through Sunnydale brought the loving couple through some interesting sights. They made a short stop in the cemetery for Buffy's Slayer-y duties which Willow cheered on with great enthusiasm.<p>

"That was almost as fun as watching you play!" Willow exclaimed breathlessly while hugging Buffy, who was a bit dusty in the aftermath of much senseless violence: her preferred solution to these pesky late night interruptions.

"The back-flip was bit too much though," Buffy answered with a grin. Just when she was leaning in to kiss Willow her ears perked up.

Willow felt herself being dragged behind a headstone. "Buffy!" she exclaimed and giggled before Buffy covered her mouth.

"Somebody's coming," she said, still in full Slayer-mode and very protective of her Willow.

Willow let out a sigh and pried the hand from her mouth. "It's probably just somebody taking a short-cut through the cemetery to the Bronze, although that's a bit odd, you know, the Bronze being so close the cemetery, almost like a bad plot device in a—" Willow's babble stream was cut off by a kiss.

Buffy kept on eye out until she was sure all danger was past, then got to work on taking care of some after Slayer-y urges.

"We'll be late for your speech at the Bronze," Willow said when they broke apart and Buffy gave a wolfish grin.

While the two snuggle-bunnies did whatever snuggle-bunnies do behind tombstones in dark cemeteries on Sunday nights, a group of celebrating students—a mix of cheerleaders, football players, friends, and classmates...oh, and one mascot—took a shortcut through the cemetery to get to the Bronze.

Trailing behind the group was a very dour Larry, the undisputed co-leader of the team and a guy that when in a good mood—meaning not being around a certain quarterback—could be an okay guy.

"I'll catch up, guys," Xander excused himself from the main group while looking back at the sulking linebacker. Knowing well the dangers of Sunnydale he didn't want to leave anyone, even Larry, alone in the dark.

"Hey, Larry! What's the matter, big guy?" Xander said and gave Larry a firm pat on the shoulder. Then Xander realized his mistake and slowly withdrew his hand.

The line backer looked up at the mascot and instead of a murderous rage filled face Xander saw a face of a very confused young man.

"Xander, have you ever—" Larry started and then stopped "Never mind, lets get going," he said. "Don't want to disappoint the ladies," he commented with a wink.

Xander wanted to shake his head and sigh, but through superhuman effort and conditioning from being best friend to two girls he held back. "Larry, there is something bothering you and it's my duty as Team Mascot to ensure that you get it off your chest," Xander said with his friendliest smile.

"That's not in the book," Larry stated but gave a laugh.

"Well, it's not in the book that the quarterback should be a girl. It's not in the book that she should be dating a cheerleader who's also a girl. It's not in the book that the mascot should be having a secret thing with the head cheerleader that everybody knows about. And it's not the book that—" Xander counted off on his finger.

"Wait. You're dating Cordelia?" Larry asked in an honestly surprised voice.

Xander resisted the very strong urge to beat his head against the giggling tombstone. 'Wait. Giggling tombstone?' Xander thought, then shook his head and took Larry firmly by the shoulders. "What I'm trying to say, Larry, is that it's okay to be different here. This is Sunnydale! I mean, after all that's gone on since we started school, how bad can your secret be?" he asked and gave a very good imitation of Willow's Resolve Face(tm)—he was probably bordering on copyright infringement. There was a dramatic pause and the world held its breath—well, the two snuggle-bunnies behind the tombstone did at least.

Larry seemed to be weighing the options in his mind while Xander tried to block out the odd giggling tombstone. He decided it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him again—like it always did when he saw the school mascot outfit and felt the distinct taste of ham in his mouth; a very raw tasting ham that would haunt him to the end of his days.

"Xander, is that tombstone giggling?" Larry asked finally with a grin.

Now Xander gave an almighty sigh of the long suffering whipping boy to all and put a friendly arm around Larry's shoulder. "Larry," he said and started steering the linebacker towards the Bronze. "I believe it was. Now about this 'problem' of yours, how about we go and talk it over along with some drinks and the company of lovely women," Xander said, then he looked back at the giggling tombstone.

"Or men," Larry added with a slow wink and Xander gave him a smile.

"That's the spirit. If all the cheerleaders are going Sapphic, why shouldn't the footballers fight back in some sort of way," he said with a laugh, then took one glance back and saw a redhead and a blonde pop back down behind the tombstone.

* * *

><p>Buffy was watching Willow from her seat on the windowsill. The night had gone better than she'd hoped for—well, aside from the confusion over Larry and the sound of Xander screaming his lungs out.<p>

"Willow," Buffy said while watching Willow go about getting ready for bed.

"Yes," Willow said dreamily while she was combing out her long red hair.

Buffy bit her lip, she was going to tell Willow tonight, but something deep inside her kept her from saying it. "Want me to stay?" she asked and wanted to slap herself for being such a coward. 'Not that sleeping with Willow is bad,' she thought to herself with a smile.

"On the first date?" Willow asked playfully and Buffy giggled.

"Am I being a 'shiksa'?" she asked and looked out at the moon over head.

"You've been studying?" Willow asked and moved toward the window with a brush in her hand.

"Maybe a little," Buffy said innocently and then felt the touch of the brush on her hair.

"Your hair is all boyish," Willow commented while running the brush through Buffy's blonde locks. "Think you got it sun bleached," she commented.

"When did you get all girly on me, Wills?" Buffy asked with a laugh but then gave a content sigh while her girlfriend combed out her hair.

"Well one of us has to be a bit girly," Willow said absentmindedly and stole a kiss on Buffy's cheek. "And yes you can stay the night," Willow whispered into Buffy's ear. "Just..."

"Leave through the window," Buffy finished with a giggle. "Your mom is the coolest sometimes," she said and then winced when Willow's brush caught a tangle in her hair.

"Sorry," Willow said. "But you get serious helmet hair sometimes," she said and worked the brush through Buffy's blonde locks and then ran her fingers through it.

"Purr," Buffy said with a grin.

With a smile, Willow put down the brush turned her girlfriend around and gave her a big kiss on the lips while holding onto her face. "You're my quarterback," Willow said when she pulled away from the closed eyed and grinning slayer.

"And you're my cheerleader," Buffy said and opened her eyes and kissed Willow again.

'I'll tell her tomorrow,' Buffy thought when Willow wrapped her arms around her. 'Yep, tomorrow...' her mind trailed off.

Later, when the pair lay in Willow's bed—get your mind out of the gutter—both in their bed clothes, Buffy looking a bit baggy in Willow's larger pajamas, Buffy again whispered to Willow as she slept. "I like..." she paused and looked at Willow's sleeping face before trying again "I love you, Wills, and I swear that I'll tell you when you can hear me before the season's over," she whispered and then snuggled closer to her girlfriend.

Next up are the state championship games, so a long road lay before the cheerleader and the quarterback yet.

**Chapter Twelve: Aftermaths and Flashbacks**

The trophy gleamed in the light of the Bronze and the rain kept battering the roof of the club. Beyond the trophy, the hazy outlines of the storyteller, the editor, and the proof-girl (ala Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi) could be seen—or maybe that's just the beer talking in some drunken senior's brain. Hey! You didn't think we were going to miss the end celebrations, did you?

Buffy sat with Her Willow™ on her lap and sipped at her warm chocolate enjoying an extremely high level of warm fuzzies. 'Aww, warm goodness in two forms,' she thought and glanced at her girlfriend. On the table in front of her rested the game ball and a pair of very muddy gloves. 'Still, that mud isn't coming out of my uniform anytime soon—wait! Warm Willow goodness and I'm thinking about laundry?' she thought in a panic. She snuggled up to her girlfriend and gave her a hug to calm herself.

"Man, that was wet and uncomfortable..." one of the cheerleaders started to say.

Buffy didn't hear the rest since her mind had already drifted back to the mud covered gridiron. The memory of being slammed hard into said mud brought back the feeling of her hands sinking into the cold mud. The chill returned to her fingers until Willow chased it away.

Willow took Buffy's hands into her own and smiled at her girlfriend—or Slayer-Sized, Permanent Snuggle-Bunny. 'Hey, it beats shiksa,' Willow thought and interlaced her fingers between Buffy's. 'Plus, she's all mine now,' she thought while her inner Daffy Duck jumped around inside her brain, 'Mine-mine-mine.'

After all, we all have our own inner Daffy Duck. Perhaps it has something to do with our id or maybe it depends on how many Warner Brothers cartoons we watched while growing up. It leads us all to— The storyteller is promptly hushed by the editor and the proof-girl who've been waiting for this ending for far too long.

"You were far away for a moment there, sweetie," Willow said.

Buffy looked up at her girlfriend. "Flashback in the brain," she explained and kissed the cheerleader. "Love you," she stated happily with a smile.

"Love you too," Willow answered and kissed her quarterback back. 'Mine-mine-mine,' Willow's inner Daffy Duck repeated.

"Stop it, you two!" Wild Bill exclaimed. The girls turned to look at the running back as the twins wheeled him and Litni over to the table. The cast on his leg was now richly decorated—although several phone numbers had been crossed over and replaced with the words, "Hands off," in a suspiciously Litni-like handwriting.

The twins each had a silly grin on his face and a cheerleader on his arm. Although we're sure they'd rather be cow-tipping right now, it was raining and the girls weren't that bad anyway. Maybe later they'd take them for a roll in the hay, after milking the cows and feeding the pigs, of course.

"I was so worried when they tackled you," Litni said, then kissed Wild Bill on the cheek and blushed. Yes, she's a bashful little thing, isn't she? But then again, what's the happy ending without the cute girl blushing.

"Yeah, they got me good. But these guys got 'em back for me, didn't you boys," he said and slapped the twins on their shoulders.

"Yes, it was quite a blow you took there, William," Jon said in low rumbling voice that had a distinct Country Western accent to it. It was an accent that would be put a country star to shame; inhumanly western even. An accent that would make a grown man cry. So thick that it could be used to plug leaks in the Hoover Dam. Well, you get the idea.

"But don't worry. You'll heal up nicely," Tuck said in an equally rumbling voice, this one though totally different, go figure. Apparently Jon had been raised on the farm and Tuck had been raised in the heart of Brooklyn. Although his wording was eloquent, his accent was just this side of horrendous.

The twins then looked around the Bronze where everybody was staring at them in awe and stunned silence.

"What? Just because we don't—" Jon started.

"Doesn't mean we're incapable of doing so," Tuck finished.

Both gave their trademark little smiles, then each boy blushed when the cheerleader on his arm gave him a kiss on the cheek.

In the case of the twins blushing, it was perhaps for the best since it kept blood from flowing to naughtier places. Besides, who doesn't love seeing grown men blush? Those cheerleaders had just saved some cows from horrible fates.

"Still, that was some hit you took, buddy," Harry said when he arrived with the drinks, with a little help from Annika and Larry.

Larry was still sporting a nasty Slayer-hand-shaped bruise on his cheek, a result of Buffy convincing him to stop being 'too gay to function' and to get out there and play. Thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day.

* * *

><p>The cheerleaders had gone quiet and so had the crowd. Willow and Cordelia were holding Litni back from running onto the field and Buffy was kneeling over her running back.<p>

"WB, talk to me," Buffy said. She propped up Wild Bill's head as the rest of the team rushed in around her.

"Leg hurts like nine levels of hell, Cap'," Wild Bill said through gritted teeth.

Buffy pulled his helmet off. "You did good, WB," she said and smoothed down his wet hair. "Plus, Hell doesn't technically have nine levels; it's more like a deep pit that..." she trailed off and scratched the back of her helmet with a blush. "Can you stand, big boy?" she asked.

"Don't get all maternal on me, Cap'. Just help me up," Wild Bill said, then looked over to Litni and blew her a kiss.

"Harry, help me," Buffy said, remembering to cover for her slayer strength. The two helped Wild Bill up and carried him over to the medics. Once the running back was safely off the field, Buffy turned to Coach Landis for orders.

"We're short a running back," Coach Landis said. She looked around the wet field and the rain soaked teams. "This is your call, Buffy. Who do you trust to run the ball?"

"Wait, shouldn't you two..." Buffy said, looking between Coach Landis and the umbrella holding Coach Jameson.

"No, this is your call, Summers," Coach Jameson said. He put a hand on her shoulder. "This is your team and you must lead them," he said in that calm voice.

Buffy was sure she could see a halo above his head and hear a choir of angels in the background.

"Did a bell just ring?" Coach Landis asked with a grin. She slapped Buffy on the back. "Who do you want?" she asked.

"Give me Larry," Buffy said without missing a beat.

"Larry? But he's still..." Coach Landis trailed off and looked over to the defensive end sitting almost dazed on the bench. "Well, he's still not fully ready to clash with other men right now," she said bluntly. "He took the taunting kind of hard and the crowd didn't help," she explained.

"I'll talk to him," Buffy said with a firmly set face, then stalked over to Larry.

Standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, Buffy looked down at the moping defensive end. "Larry, we need you. So put that helmet on and get out there," she said and hiked her thumb over her shoulder.

Larry barely looked up.

With everything else that was going on, his lack of reaction made her blood boil. "Larry, stop this bullshit!" Buffy exclaimed and shook his shoulder while the rain poured down on them. "I'm wet, muddy and I just lost my best runner. I need somebody to take the ball and plow through the defense, but no, he's moping because he just found out that he likes the boys," she ranted and glared down at the sulking defensive end.

"It doesn't matter anymore; it's just football," he said in a defeated tone.

At that, Buffy's blood boiled over and the slap could be heard across the field. Then she turned and started stalking toward the opposition. She was going to get some payback for what the opposing guard had said; nobody taunted and hurt her teammates, not even Larry.

"Buffy, Cap', stop!" Larry shouted. He bolted over to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"If you're not going out there and defend yourself, then I am," Buffy said. 'Perhaps physiology—or is that psychology? Whichever it is, maybe it isn't such a silly subject after all.'

"Okay, I'll play. Just don't get thrown out over me," Larry said sheepishly and rubbed his reddening cheek.

"Partners?" Buffy asked stuck out her hand.

"Partners," Larry nodded and shook the petite hand of the quarterback. "Now let's go kick some 'phobic butt," he added with a grin and cracked his knuckles.

Xander tossed the head of the mascot costume into the air and caught it as the crowd laughed at Larry's silly grin.

* * *

><p>Back at the Bronze the teams thoughts turned back to the present.<p>

"I was more worried when Buffy slapped Larry here," Xander said. "Thought we might have to drag her off him," he chuckled and ruffled Buffy's hair.

"Thanks, X-man," Larry said. He gave Xander a kiss on the cheek from which the mascot instantly recoiled.

"Look, we talked about this after the game!" he exclaimed pointing, then looked down his finger at the Cheshire-cat grinning defensive end. "You—You—" Xander growled.

"Easy, tiger. We all did strange stuff today," Cordelia giggled into Xander's ear and kissed the other cheek. "Also you're drawing lots of attention, so I just take it as confirmation of your hotness," she said and winked at Larry. "But hands off!" she ordered everybody around the table; boys, girls, and authors alike. Larry saluted her with a beer-mug.

"Yes ma'am," the rather crowded gathering said in unison. "We shall keep our hands off Xander's butt since it is your property!" they then chorused.

"Amen!" Buffy said and raised her cup of hot chocolate.

"But man, that was a sweet move, Cap'," Harry said and sipped his drink. "I didn't know a ball could be thrown like that or that a defensive end could run like that!"

"Well, when Willow says run," Buffy said with a grin.

"You run," Larry, Harry and Wild Bill said as one.

"Okay, this 'let's all say the same thing at the same time' thing is getting creepy, guys," Cordelia interjected.

"Sorry," the guys said together and Cordelia turned her eyes skywards.

"Still, Willow, that was a great speech," Litni commented.

Willow turned to the younger cheerleader and unleashed her new found super-facial ability, the 'devastating, aww thank you, cutesy-pie smile,' and ruffled the blonde girl's hair eliciting a blush. "Well, you helped too, Litni," Willow said and the girl turned into a tomato.

Yes, we are going to have another flashback now. Didn't you read the chapter's name?

* * *

><p>There was a palpable gloom that hung over the locker-room. Larry was nursing his bruise with an ice-pack, Buffy was pretending to be nursing a sore hand from bruising Larry, and Harry was trying to keep the twins from going to the other team's locker-room to exact vengeance for Wild Bill.<p>

"So nobody wants to say anything?" Coach Landis said and looked around the locker-room.

"We're getting hammered out there," Larry stated and wiggled his jaw.

"Those guys are inhuman," Buffy stated. 'And I know inhuman,' she added in her mind.

Coach Jameson stood in the doorway, mainly to block the way out in case the team got flighty. Also, because he liked standing in doorways, it was a thing of his. "I've been thinking that maybe—" he started and the team looked up, but then there was a knock at the door. "Who on Earth could that be?" Coach Jameson asked himself and turned around and opened the door.

"Hi!" Three girls;—Willow, Cordelia, and Litni—greeted him in unison and waved.

We should note at this point in time that they were all very wet from their cheering and that behind them the entire squad also waved, also equally wet. Yet Coach Jameson being the saint that he was and an angel in training—hey, it's a good conspiracy theory—didn't register the fact. All he did was silently hand Willow a dry fluffy towel without even looking below her neckline, where everybody else's eyes—including Coach Landis's, albeit discretely—were resting.

"Yes? Can I help you ladies?" Coach Jameson asked in his calm, collected voice. Again, half the people in the room could almost swear they heard the sound of an angels' chorus around the man.

"I was wondering if I could maybe talk to the team?" Willow asked and found herself batting her eyelashes.

Coach Jameson paused to think, then looked back at his rather demoralized team and shrugged his shoulders. After all if the presence of fellow schoolmates wouldn't spur them on, then nothing would. A very wet mascot joined the gathered wet cheerleaders huddling outside the team's locker-room. The wetness didn't even enter into Coach Jameson's mind and somewhere Santa put him in the Good-column for another year.

"Come on in," he said and opened the door wide.

"Thanks, Coach Jameson," Willow said and gave him a beaming smile, which would later become known as the 'devastating, aww thank you, cutesy-pie smile,' and Coach Jameson actually blushed.

There was a collective sound of jaw dropping when the wet cheerleaders—which make for very nice visual images—marched into the locker-room lead by Willow and Cordelia.

"Boys, stop gaping. And, Larry, stop ogling my boyfriend," Cordelia said.

There was a sound of several jaws dropping followed by a collective outburst of, "Who me?" Over the din, Larry apologized, "Sorry!" while Buffy started to say, "Willow, what are you—"

"Willow has something to say to you all," Litni said. Sheepishly, she waved at her mom. "Sorry, Mom."

Coach Landis sighed and shook her head, just knowing that Litni got this side of her personality from Andrea.

Willow tossed her wet red hair over her shoulder and adjusted her skirt. This caused another round of collective jaw dropping followed by the sound of a growling quarterback and a sighing defensive end turned running back.

"Now first of all—" Willow paused for a dramatic look around the room. "You're all a bunch of sissies!" she exclaimed. "And I know a bunch of sissies when I see them. I was in 6th grade gym and we had some sissies," Willow said and looked at Xander when he raised his hand guiltily.

"Yeah! Buffy, you're not focused. Larry, you're...confused—" Litni piped in and then looked at Willow to help her out.

"You two—" Willow said sternly and walked up to the twins. "Stop beating yourself up for not stopping them from getting to Wild Bill. Instead, get out there and get some revenge!" She softened her expression and touched them gently on the shoulder. "Just imagine them as cows that need tipping: big, napping cows," she said with a grin and a gleam in her eyes.

The twins nodded their heads and smiled at the cute red head that was making them feel fuzzy.

"Harry, stop worrying about Wild Bill, he'll be fine. Instead, go out there and run for the both of you." Willow then ruffled his hair. "Annika is watching you after all," she added and Harry's chest puffed out.

"Larry, I know that you're going through a lot of stuff," Willow sat down next to the moping defensive end. "Believe me, I know," she said with great empathy while she patted his shoulder. "It's not easy, but the team needs you and they don't care if you're gay or straight." She looked around the locker-room with a firm look in her eyes. "Do you?" she asked firmly.

"Rainbow flags all around," Buffy called out.

"Larry still scares me, but that's nothing new; always been scared of him," Xander quipped in.

"One less guy as competition!" Harry shouted.

The twins just shrugged and gave him a thumbs up. After all, they had Uncle Bob in San Francisco. He was cool and could tip a mean cow if the mood took him, no matter if he was fabulously dressed while doing so.

"You see, Larry, they don't mind. So go out there and run for Wild Bill and smack down some jerks," Willow said and gave him a hug.

"I don't think that's proper," Coach Jameson whispered to Coach Landis.

"Well then, you'll hate what's coming next," Coach Landis whispered back with a sly little smile.

"Buffy," Willow said and stood in front of the quarterback. "My Buffy." She pulled the quarterback to her feet. "You're forgetting that this is just a game. You went into this to be normal and to have fun, but right now you're trying to rescue everybody...as usual." She lifted Buffy's face so that their eyes met. "You don't have to rescue everybody all the time; you just have to be Buffy." She paused and stroked away the dirt from Buffy's cheek. "My Buffy." She smiled and started to lean in. "The Buffy that loves her Willow," she finished and gave Buffy a tender kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Willow," she whispered. Perhaps it wasn't the screaming from the rooftops she'd envisioned when she'd dreamed about telling Willow, but it did the job.

"I know," Willow answered. "You never had to tell me." She beamed with a loving smile. "But it's nice to hear it," she added with an impish grin and kissed Buffy again.

They were interrupted by a loud, "Ahem!" from Coach Jameson.

"Feel better now?" Willow asked when she pulled away.

"Much," Buffy said with a big smile. She jumped up on to the bench she'd been moping on. "What are we?" she shouted at the gathered team and cheerleaders.

"War Pigs!" the group roared back.

"What are we going to do?" Buffy shouted.

"Dominate!" the group shouted back.

Buffy looked down and watched Willow pick up her helmet, then the redheaded cheerleader kissed it, leaving a lipstick mark on it right above the face opening. She handed it to Buffy with a wink.

Taking the helmet, Buffy jammed it onto her head and raised her gloved fist into the air. "For Wild Bill!" she called out.

The team followed suit before roaring out the tunnel along with the screaming cheerleaders.

* * *

><p>In the Bronze the rain still beat down on the roof. The hot chocolate flowed freely along with much back slapping, hugging, and kissing.<p>

"Larry, stop that," Xander exclaimed and covered his face.

"Oh, come on. He's just letting out some long suppressed stuff," Cordelia said and swatted Xander with the glove from the mascot outfit.

"Still, there are laws against doing that, aren't there?" Buffy asked and got swatted with a pom-pom by Willow.

"It's sweet," Willow said. She looked at Larry who was now dancing on the bar and singing along with YMCA—the dancing was good, but the singing left much to be desired. In all honesty, Larry was missing every single note and even inventing some new ones in the process.

"Great, here come the twins. They'll stop..." Xander trailed off when the twins joined the defensive end on the bar belting out the song in their heavily accented voices and joining Larry in the dance moves.

"There, there, sweetie," Cordelia said and patted Xander on the back. "It's must be hard being so straight," she joked.

Xander's head snapped up. "Damn straight, I'm straight!" Xander exclaimed, his chest puffing.

"Come on, Xander, let's show them," Harry said with a laugh. He motioned for Xander to follow while Annika giggled next to him.

"I—I—" Xander stammered.

"Oh, come on. Show us that you can dance just as good as the defensive line," Harry said and urged Xander to follow again.

"Yes, Alexander, show us what a mascot can really do," Annika added with a small smile.

"Oh, come on, you big baby," Willow said and flung a pom-pom at him. "I've seen you dance in the bathroom."

All the eyes at the table locked on her.

Willow blushed, her eyes wide. "When we were little," she explained.

After much taunting and threats of pain, Xander along with Harry were up on the bar dancing along to In the Navy.

"Whoever brought that Best of The Village People CD should be congratulated...and then shot," Buffy muttered. "They're evil and I know evil. Still, it's kind of funny seeing the boys trying to prove their straightness by dancing to disco." Then she blew a wolf-whistle.

"You'd go up there, right?" Litni asked Wild Bill with a grin

The wheelchair-bound running back grinned back. "If you asked nicely," he replied and stole a kiss.

"What about you, Annika? You've been quiet. No moment from the game that sticks with you?" Wild Bill asked Harry's girlfriend.

"Just the celebration afterwards, when the sun came out," Annika said with her little smile. "And all the kissing," she added with a sly smile clearly reliving the days events in her mind.

* * *

><p>The team was down to the wire and they knew it. This was it, their last Hail Mary. They'd come to within a hairsbreadth of stealing victory and now all they needed was one more touchdown. And above all else, they needed to obey the Willow. Beyond that, they were going to make it as fun as possible.<p>

The crowd was getting louder. The rain had stopped for the moment and the cheerleaders had quickly dried off during half-time, thanks to the towels dutifully passed out by the very happy towel boy at Coach Jameson's request. The cheerleaders had also managed to get the worst, a very objective worst, of the moisture from their uniforms. That left a group of wet football players ready to slug it out one last time.

"Okay guys, this is it: last play of the last game," Buffy said in the huddle. "I'm going to drag them out; make them come after me and open up holes in their line," she explained. She turned her blue eyes to the twins. "Twins, keep me safe. I can only dodge so many."

The twins nodded solemnly in reply then glanced over at the cute red-headed who talked like their mother.

"Harry, we want them to think you're the bait, so make like you're going for it," she told the running back.

"Larry, you wait for my signal I'll run to you," she explained to the recently drafted running back. "Then I'll fake giving you the ball and then you run for the end-zone," she laid out the final bit of her plan. "Sorry, but the ball really is going to Harry on this one and you'll take a few hits," she added.

"It's okay, let them try," Larry said and cracked his knuckles.

"Harry, you feeling lucky?" Buffy asked.

"Just call me Wild Harry," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Give me your hands," Buffy said and thrust her hand into the huddle. "What are we?" she asked for the last time that season.

"War Pigs!" the team shouted.

"What are we going to do?" she asked with a wink.

"Dominate!" the team shouted.

"Rainbow flags all around!" Buffy shouted.

The team followed her in a chant of, "Rainbow! Rainbow! Rainbow!" as the huddle broke up with laughter in the air.

The laugh unnerved the other team, because it hinted that their opponents either knew the play or they had just plain lost it.

"One last time! Hut, hut!" Buffy called the play and the offense exploded into action. Buffy ran backwards and, as planned, dragged much of the defensive line with her. The twins crashed into it and made like their opponents were napping cows.

"The Girl of Steel makes for the hills—but what is this? Here comes Blaisdell and he's taking the ball and off he goes," the announcer shouted over the speakers.

"Gotcha," Buffy muttered to herself. She dodged an incoming defender before reaching back her arm and letting the pigskin fly with all her strength at Harry.

"A trick-play! The 'Backs have totally outwitted their opponents," the announcer exclaimed after Larry got slammed into the ground and held up his empty hands.

"There is Kim at the twenty, the ten—" the announcer exclaimed while Harry ran for dear life. The closest defensive back was inches away from grabbing Harry when he was slammed from behind. Amazingly, it was by the fleet-footed Larry who had somehow managed to get up again.

"Touch down 'Backs! The 'Backs win, 'Backs win!" the announcer shouted.

Buffy felt herself fall to her knees on the gridiron. Pulling off her helmet, she tossed it into the air and gave an exalted shout. "Willow! I love you!" She raised her arms towards the air. "I'm in love with Willow Rosenberg!" she called out. Although this was common knowledge by now, she felt that shouting her love for Willow beat thanking Jesus—both Jewish in either case.

There was a sound of feet hitting wet grass as the team and the cheerleaders rushed towards the end-zone to celebrate. Except for one pair of feet which made their way to the center of the field where Buffy was still on her knees.

"Wow!" Willow said and offered Buffy her hand. "Shouting it from the rooftops? Metaphorically, that is?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Then Willow felt herself being gathered up in a big hug and an even bigger kiss as the sun broke through briefly to shine on the Cheerleader and the Quarterback.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for the new State-champions: The Sunnydale High Razorbacks!" the announcer shouted over the speakers.

"I love you so much," Buffy said once she gave Willow the opportunity to breathe.

"And I lo—" Willow's declaration of love was interrupted by the startled shriek of a headless Xander—mascot headless, that is—who came running up and hid behind them.

"Save me! Larry just kissed me," Xander said in a panicky voice.

"Tongue?" Buffy asked dead-pan.

Xander nodded his head, then went stiff when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Xander, you're my boyfriend now," Cordelia said in a quite matter of fact tone and then kissed him full on the lips.

"I am?" Xander asked in a confused voice. Then he exclaimed with a goofy grin, "I am!"

Cordelia nodded her head with a smile.

"What about Jennifer and not dating a loser?" he asked.

"Xander Harris, you're not a loser. And besides, Jennifer never really was an option," Cordelia stated and kissed him again. "So what do you say?" If you looked really close, in the background you could see Jennifer sneaking off with the girl in the band that bore a striking resemblance to Willow. Then you'd see her being tackled to the ground by three ghostly shapes who wanted the doppelganger for themselves. The bloody melee continued to rage off-screen, but we need to get back to the story.

"Cordelia Chase is my girlfriend!" Xander shouted, picked her up from the ground and carried her around the field in his arms.

"That went a little too easily," Willow commented, still in Buffy's arms.

"Yeah, he should have given her major pain for doing what she did with Jennifer," Buffy nodded.

Then the swarm of players, cheerleaders, fans, and even the school band mobbed them. And all thoughts of unresolved plot threads were left behind on the wet green field.

* * *

><p>Back at the Bronze, Buffy looked around at the party that was slowly dying down. Larry was getting chummy with the bartender who had great fashion sense. Wild Bill was holding a sleeping Litni in his lap. Cordelia had dragged Xander off earlier promising him a tour of her bedroom. And the twins were trying to explain the finer points of cow-tipping to Annika and Harry who, bless their hearts, didn't laugh. In her arms, Willow was content and happy.<p>

"Hey, it's stopped raining," Buffy said and then looked at her watch. "Wanna go patrol with me?" she asked.

"I'd go anywhere with you," Willow answered. The romance was broken by a very unladylike yawn from the cheerleader. "Sorry, a bit sleepy," Willow apologized.

"Come on. I've got a place I've always wanted to take you to," Buffy said with a smile.

So, as the sun rose over the happy football town of Sunnydale, Buffy hugged her Willow and enjoyed the feeling of being close to the cheerleader. When Willow looked up at her with those oh-so loving eyes, Buffy decided to try out something she'd looked up just for this occasion. "Ich hob dich," Buffy said gently, almost stumbling over the words.

Willow's face lit up with a smile and Buffy found herself promptly grabbed and kissed. "Ich hob dir lib," Willow answered and kissed her again.

Buffy looked at Willow with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous smile. "Wills, I've been thinking..." she trailed off.

This is a good a place to end it as any, isn't it? They won. Buffy loves Willow and Willow loves Buffy. Breaking the fourth wall, I'd like to thank you reading this enjoyable little piece of fluff.

**-The End-**


End file.
